Bananas… Oh @progressivechef, you just make it more and more fun as the weeks pass by!

The most phallic, naughty-but-nice fruit (well a berry if we’re being technical here) of them all, is commonplace around the world. Providing around 100 kcal per portion, this starchy crop is a wonderful hungry tummy filler, equipped with plenty of nutrients. One such example is potassium, a mineral that is essential in the synthesis of sexual hormones- so it’s suggestive shape is quite fitting!
In fact, this erotic-by-nature food was considered the forbidden fruit in Islam, unlike in Christianity where the seemingly innocent, stout apple was the prohibited fruit in the Garden of Eden.

It’s such a coincidence that just one day before @progressivechef announced bananas as theme of the week, I happened to be given a stress ball…in the shape of a banana!

And no word of a lie, but Bananagrams happens to be my favourite game so I had a little play whilst setting up my final plate!

Anyway, enough of the banana merch talk and back to the food!

Here in China, bananas appear to be on sale everywhere, but funnily enough, I have not seen a single person chomping on one here! The locals seems to be more a fan of stone fruits and melons rather than bananas, which appear to be a somewhat inferior fruit on this side of the world.
So with little inspiration and with bananas being located on the lower end of the fruit hierarchy in society here, I finally came up with my recipe!....

Banana bread ice cream; Banana milk jelly; Banana flambé; Peanut butter banoffee tartlet and butterscotch sauce

So let's start with...

Banana bread ice cream

Cream together 100g butter and 100g sugar. Following this step, add 1 tsp vanilla essence and 2 eggs and whisk until no lumps are to be seen. Fold in 100g whole wheat flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 2 very ripe soft bananas. Pour the mixture into a greased loaf tin and bake for 35 minutes at 180C.

The ice cream party is easy as pie. In a food processor, blitz 100g whipped cream, 1 tbsp icing sugar and 4 bananas. Fold in roughly broken chunks of the cooled banana bread and place in the freezer, mixing every hour to prevent the formation of ice crystals.

Banana milk jelly

Mix 350ml milk with 1 tsp vanilla essence and 15g sugar and combine with 1 banana that has been pureed and heat just before it reached boiling point. Add 10g gelatine powder that has been prepared with 3 tbsp water and leave to disintegrate into the hot milk mixture whilst still on the heat. Pour into moulds and leave to set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Banana flambé with cardamom syrup

In a frying pan, melt 50g butter and 50g sugar. When the sugar is dissolved, add the juice of 1 orange, 5 crushed cardamom pods and then 2 bananas sliced lengthways.

Leave to caramelise and soften ensuring to flip on the other side.

When browned, add some tequila (I tend to be a tad generous with the booze!) and set alight. Once the flame has died, the flambe can be served.

Peanut butter banoffee tartlet

For the biscuit base, crush 100g oreos and heat with 50g melted butter. Line 4-6 muffin tins with cling film and press the biscuit mix tightly onto the base.

Next, heat 100g sugar with 100g butter. When the sugar has dissolved, add 350g condensed milk and bring to an abrupt boil, stirring constantly. Remove after 1 minute and stir in 2tbsp peanut butter. Spread a layer onto the biscuit base and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

When set, layer with some sliced bananas and freshly whipped double cream and decorate with banana chips and fancy peanuts!

The tart is now ready for the plating stage. PS- I arranged the components on 2 different plates (one black, one white), because I wasn't satisfied with the first attempt!

Butterscotch saucet

For the butterscotch sauce, melt 50g butter with 75g sugar in a saucepan. When the sugar has dissolved, add 130ml double cream and allow to boil for 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract and allow to cool.