Next week only includes one of the best days of the year; pancake day – the annual Tuesday when we all fry up batter, declare we should do it all the time, then not touch a homemade crepe again until the following February.
So, you may as well make the ones you cook good, and by gum is this tropical bonanza a treat. Coconut! Butter! Sugar! Rum! Mmmmm.
The batter uses desiccated coconut as opposed to coconut milk, as I reckon they’d end up too heavy then, and you need them to be light alongside the rich banaynays. You could add a load more butter and sugar when you’re cooking the fruit to create more of a caramel sauce, but let’s not get carried away now – this version actually remains (relatively) healthy, and the bananas are moist enough on their own. Just add a dollop of creme fraiche if you’d like it a little wetter.
It’s important to use a good, heavy-bottomed non-stick frying pan when cooking pancakes, for two reasons: firstly, a thick base allows even heat and prevents them easily burning before they’re cooked through, and secondly, a good non-stick coating allows you to add little to no fat for frying, resulting in a much less greasy final dish. The same applies to the banana mix as cooked sugar sticks like chewing gum trodden into carpet. Who wants that? This Marks & Spencer one that I use is good for the price, and of course it’s important to use a non-metal spatula to avoid scratching it.
Recipe after the jump
Ingredients (serves 4)
110g plain flour
200mls milk
2 medium free range eggs
2 tablespoons of desiccated coconut
2 bananas
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoon of butter
A big splash of dark rum (probably about 100mls if you’re measuring)
Directions
Throw the flour, eggs and milk in a large mixing bowl and whisk hard to get a bubbly batter.
Slice the bananas into bite-size chunks and toss in the sugar to coat. Leave to sit while you cook the pancakes.
Heat the frying pan until smoking and pour in a ladle-full of batter. Allow it to spread out. Leave until you see bubbles forming all over the surface. Flip. Cook for a further 2mins on a high heat the whole time. Remove pancake and put it somewhere warm. Repeat until batter is used. You should get 6-8 medium pancakes.
Add the butter to the same pan the pancakes have been cooking in and reduce the heat to medium. Add bananas to melted butter and cook slices for a couple of minutes on each side until brown and sticky.
As the bananas cook, plate up the pancakes, folded, 1-2 per person.
Splash the rum into the pan with the bananas. Allow to bubble rapidly and scrape in sugary residue. Immediately tumble bananas and any liquor onto pancakes, top with a spoon of creme fraiche and serve.
*Cooking equipment for this post was gifted by ShopStyle.
