Banana/Pineapple Splits

The Star Wars Cookbook: Ice Sabers, 30 Chilled Treats Using the Force of your Freezer, Lara Starr, photography by Matthew Carden 2013 San Francisco

  

Bananakin Splits  makes 4 splits

Strawberry Sauce: 350g frozen strawberries (I used fresh); ¼ cup caster sugar; 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Chocolate sauce: ½ cup thickened cream; ¾ cup chopped dark chocolate

Roasted bananas: 4 ripe bananas, peeled and halved lengthwise; 2 tblsp brown sugar

Splits: 500m each of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream; ½ cup crushed pineapple; whipped cream; 12 maraschino cherries 

1. To make the strawberry sauce: Set the strawberries in a fine strainer over a bowl and thaw for several hour or in the refrigerator overnight. Reserve the juice in a small bowl and set aside. Force the berries through the strainer with a wooden spoon, mashing and stirring as much of the berry puree as possible is passed through the strainer. Discard the seeds. Add the reserved juice, caster sugar and lemon juice and stir to combine. (I put the strawberries into the blender with the caster sugar and lemon juice and used all the puree)

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C

3. To make the roasted bananas: Line a baking tray with baking paper or a nonstick liner. Place the bananas on the prepared sheet, cut-side up. Sprinkle the tops with the brown sugar. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the bananas are soft when tested with a fork and the topping is golden and bubbly. Cool for 15 minutes.

4. To make the chocolate sauce: melt the cream and chocolate together in a microwave or in the top of a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Set aside. It will thicken as it cools.

5. To make the splits: Put one scoop each of the chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream into four long ice cream split bowls.

6. Top the vanilla ice ceam with the chocolate sauce, the strawberry ice cream with the crushed pineapple and the chocolate ice ceam with the strawberry sauce. Add two banana slices to each split and top with the whipped cream and cherries.

"Go forth, young Jedi! May your Ice Sabers and other frozen treats delight your appetite, and may the Force always be with you! " Lara Starr, cookbook author.