How to make banana splits for grown-ups, an elegant twist on a childhood dessert favourite - from our archives
- Sugar-and-spice pecans add heat to this happy-place dessert, and you can make them as hot as you like
- A drizzle of dulce de leche elevates this banana split far above the multi-flavoured sundaes our younger palates adored
The banana split is a fun, crowd-pleasing dessert that isn’t just for children. The secret to a sophisticated, grown-up interpretation is to keep it relatively austere: if you use too many ingredients, such as the traditional strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice creams and their corresponding sauces, the flavours get muddled.
Banana splits with butterscotch ice cream, sugar-and-spice pecans and dulce de leche
Dulce de leche is a popular ingredient that was traditionally made by simmering cow’s milk with sugar and a small amount of baking soda for hours, or until it was caramelised.
Another way to make it is by putting an unopened can of condensed milk in a pot, adding water so it’s completely submerged, then simmering it for an hour or longer, then cooling it; when you open the can, the milk is transformed into a thick, brown caramel.
You don’t save much time with the second method, but you don’t have to stand over the pot stirring the ingredients, although you do have to make sure the can is submerged throughout the process. Nowadays, though, jars of dulce de leche can be found in supermarkets.
The butterscotch ice-cream recipe is adapted from one in the book, The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz.
For the sugar-and-spice pecans, adjust the spice level according to your own taste. I like just a hint of chilli and black pepper, but you can make it spicier, if you like.
