Caramelized Banana Tartlets With Bittersweet Chocolate Port Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Melt butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, then add bananas in 1 layer and sprinkle with brown sugar. Increase heat to medium-high and cook bananas, gently turning once and shaking skillet occasionally, until sugar is caramelized, 3 to 4 minutes. Divide bananas among 4 bowls, leaving any remaining caramel in skillet.
• Add cream to skillet and boil over medium heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Add chocolate with a pinch of salt and whisk until melted.
• Top bananas with scoops of ice cream, then drizzle with some of chocolate sauce and sprinkle with nuts. (There will be extra sauce.)

Steps:

• For custard: Whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt in medium bowl to blend. Bring milk to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Gradually whisk hot milk into yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until custard thickens and boils, about 2 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and rum and whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Transfer custard to bowl. Place plastic wrap directly atop surface of custard. Refrigerate overnight.
• For crust: Blend all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons sugar and salt in processor. Cut in chilled butter using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1/4 cup ice water and process until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough together; divide into 6 equal balls. Flatten each ball into disk. Wrap each disk in plastic; refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Roll out 1 dough disk to 7-inch round. Transfer to 4 1/2-inch tartlet pan with removable bottom. Trim dough overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in, pressing and forming double-thick sides. Pierce crust all over with fork. Repeat with remaining 5 dough disks. Freeze crusts 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake crusts until golden brown and baked through, piercing with fork if crusts bubble, about 40 minutes. Cool completely in pans on rack. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight in tartlet pans at room temperature.)
• Preheat broiler. Divide custard equally among crusts (generous 1/4 cup for each). Place banana slices decoratively atop each tartlet, covering custard completely. Brush bananas lightly with water. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon brown sugar over bananas on each tartlet. Broil just until sugar melts and bubbles, about 1 1/2 minutes. Garnish with cream, if desired.

Steps:

• Bring whipping cream, whole milk, and unsalted butter to simmer in small heavy saucepan. Remove saucepan from heat and add chopped chocolate. Whisk mixture until smooth. Stir in tawny Port. (Sauce can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Warm over medium-low heat.)

Steps:

• Make tart shells: Process flour, cocoa, sugar, and fleur de sel in a food processor until combined. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor running, add eggs; process just until dough comes together.
• Turn out dough onto a clean work surface; pat together. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut 10 rounds from dough. Transfer remaining dough to a flour-dusted baking sheet; refrigerate.
• Fit dough rounds into ten round tartlet molds (each 2 1/4 inches in diameter). Trim edges of dough flush with top edges of molds. (Refrigerate scraps.) Refrigerate shells until cold, 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prick bottoms of shells all over with a fork. Bake until firm, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely in molds on a wire rack; unmold.
• Working in batches of ten and using remaining dough (reroll scraps), repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 to make 40 shells total.
• Make caramel filling: Heat sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, gently, until sugar has dissolved. Continue to cook, without stirring, until syrup comes to a boil, occasionally washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Let boil, swirling pan occasionally, until syrup is dark amber. Remove from heat.
• Carefully stir in cream and port (caramel will steam and spatter). Add butter and chocolate; stir until melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool until slightly thickened but still pourable, about 20 minutes.
• Cover bottoms of tart shells with almonds (about 1 teaspoon per shell). Spoon caramel filling into shells, filling each almost to the top. Sprinkle with almonds and fleur de sel. Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 3 hours.

Steps:

• Slice bananas into thick coins or lengthwise strips, depending on your preference.
• Pour sugar onto a plate. Roll bananas in sugar, until completely coated.
• Spray a medium size nonstick pan, and heat over medium high heat. Add bananas and sugar.
• Cook bananas until light to golden brown underneath, about 4-5 minutes (you can lift with a spatula or fork to peek). Be careful not to overcook or burn them (if you smell them browning, or see color in the pan, flip them right away). Keep in mind these times will vary, depending on your stove.
• Gently flip bananas over to brown other side, turning heat down to medium. The second side will brown in about one minute.
• Transfer to a plate that has been coated with cooking spray (otherwise they may stick - they are ooey gooey and sticky!) and serve. Alternately, slide them right onto your ice cream or breakfast food.
• Soak pan in hot water to facilitate cleaning.

Steps:

• Lightly brush a baking sheet with butter, place one sheet of filo pastry on a board and brush with melted butter, then another and brush with melted butter and dust with 1 tbls icing sugar. Now place a third sheet of filo on top and again brush with melted butter, then a fourth with melted butter and dust with 1 tbls icing sugar. Repeat this to create another pile with the rest of the filo.
• Cut out 3 x 3inch circles from each filo stack so you have 6 stacks. Place onto the buttered baking sheet and bake in a pre heated oven at 350F/180C for 5-7 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool. Whip cream to soft peak and set aside.
• Heat the caster sugar in a heavy bottomed pan over high heat until dissolved then add banana chunks and cook for 1 minute.
• To assemble place a circle of filo on each plate, top with double cream, then a spoonful of bananas then another filo, cream and bananas. Top with third filo and dust with icing sugar. Drizzle a little of the caramel on the plate and decorate with a few segments of orange if desired.