I recently joined a great group of bloggers on a journey through The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather – Project Pastry Queen. The first project was Bananas Foster Shortcakes. I think I joined at the perfect time!

The sauce is to die for. Not good for you, but so darn delicious. I could just make the sauce, pour it over ice cream and be done.

The shortcakes weren’t my favorite. To me, they were a bit flat and dry. Once I added the sauce it really helped balance out the sweetness of the sauce. Next time I make this, I will probably try a different shortcake recipe or really just skip them all together.

The next project is Caesar Salad Pizzas. The best of both worlds. Can’t wait!

INGREDIENTS

Biscuits

2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1/3 C granulated sugar
½ C chilled unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ C heavy whipping cream
sugar for sprinkling

Bananas & Syrup

1 C unsalted butter
1 ½ C firmly packed brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ C banana liquer (optional)
¼ C dark rum (optional)
8 bananas (somewhere between green and ripe), sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1/3 C pecans

8 scoops vanilla ice cream

DIRECTIONS

Pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Arrange pecans on baking sheet and bake for 7-9 minutes. Watch closely to make sure they don’t burn. Cool completely.

Biscuits

1. Increase oven to 425.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and granulated sugar in a food processor fitted with a metal blade.  Process about 30 seconds.
3.  Cut the butter into 16 pieces and add to the flour mixture.  Pulse about 15 times, until the mixture is crumbly.
4. Add the pecans, turn on the processor and pour the cream in through the feed tube in a thin, steady stream, until the mixture begins to form a ball.
5. Remove the dough and place on a flat surface that has been sprinkled with flour.  Gently form the dough into a 1/2 inch thick disk.  Use a 4 inch biscuit cutter, round cookie cutter, or a glass to cut the dough into rounds.  Roll the biscuits in the coarse sugar and set on a cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the shortcakes begin to turn golden brown.  Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer the biscuits to individual serving plates.

Sauce

1. Melt the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large saute pan set over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes.
2. Bring mixture to a boil them immediately bring to a simmer. If it continues to boil, remove pan from heat for a few seconds to help it cool.
3. Add the banana liqueur, rum and sliced bananas to the syrup and simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Scoop ice cream onto the shortcakes.
5. Top with sauce and sprinkle with pecans.

NOTES

Serves 8

Very, very slightly adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather.