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Baked Banana Desserts


punkin712

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I've been experimenting with some baked banana desserts. I recently made a Banana Foster-style tart which had sliced bananas on top that were sprinkled with brown sugar. When I took the tart out of the oven, the bananas looked cooked but had a strange grayish hue to them. I assumed they oxidized but I'm not sure how that happened during baking.

Should I have dipped the banana slices in acidulated water before adding them to the tart? I don't want the tart to be too...well...tart, but I don't think this would be very visually appealling to most people. I was hoping to get a shiny yellowish hue somehow. Would brushing them with a glaze either before or after baking help?

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I don't know why but have been told when baking bananas it's a good idea to mash them first. I don't think I've ever baked with fresh bananas, going to have to start I think.

"And in the meantime, listen to your appetite and play with your food."

Alton Brown, Good Eats

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maybe it's the exposure to air rather than heat?

here are 2 upside down cakes (not mine) whose insulated bananas either retained their color or got  golden caramel colored with the help of sweeteners...

Those look amazing! Definitely ones to add to the recipe file.

I was trying to make a variation of rustic apple tarts using bananas instead of apples so the bananas are baked on top. I thought they might be turning color because of their exposure to the air, but I'm not sure why it would happen during cooking and not when they are raw.

I was sprinkling the banana slices with a generous helping of brown sugar - could that be the cause of their discoloration? Maybe I need to completely cover them with brown sugar so it almost creates a shell.

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