Banana Souffle

Souffleed Banana pancake - sounds complicated but it's really not that hard. I made this banana pancake one Sunday night for dinner and I'm going to be perfectly honest - I wasn't sure if anyone was going to like it.  I found the recipe on Williamssonoma.com and I loved the idea of adding caramelized bananas and toasted pecans to an oven baked pancake. 

Souffléed Banana Pancake

Ingredients:

• 6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 bananas, peeled and cut diagonally 1/4 inch
    thick
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs. dark rum
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup banana puree (about 2 bananas)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup pecan halves, lightly toasted
• Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 375°F.

In 10-inch nonstick fry pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Pour 3 Tbs. of the butter into a bowl; set aside.

Tilt the pan to coat the bottom with the remaining butter and return to medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir until it melts. Add the sliced bananas and cook until barely softened and lightly caramelized, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate. Reserve the pan.
(I completely forgot to add the sugar my pan so I browned my bananas in butter only.)

Add the egg yolks, milk, vanilla, rum and salt to the bowl with the melted butter and whisk until blended.

 
Gradually whisk in the flour, then stir in the banana puree.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until frothy. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

Using a rubber spatula, fold one-third of the egg whites into the batter, then fold in the remaining whites.

 
Pour the batter into the fry pan and top with the caramelized bananas and pecans.

Bake until the pancake is puffed and golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Even though I rotated the pan halfway through baking time my pancake baked really unevenly.  It was cooked all the way through the middle but wasn't uniformly golden on the top.  (I'm a sticklyer for these kinds of things.)  I was also a little surprised that it didn't rise very much during baking.  I expected it to rise well above the sides of the pan.  I think that I didn't have the pan greased well enough which prevented the souffle from rising properly. 

Despite these minor setbacks, my family really enjoyed this baked souffle much more than I ever expected them to.
 

The caramelized bananas and roasted pecans were my favorite.  (Just imagine how good that bananas would have been if I had remembered to add the sugar.)  We ate all but one little sliver of pancake.

 Ciao!

Souffléed Banana Pancake

Ingredients:

• 6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 bananas, peeled and cut diagonally 1/4 inch
    thick
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs. dark rum
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup banana puree (about 2 bananas)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup pecan halves, lightly toasted
• Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 375°F.

In 10-inch nonstick fry pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Pour 3 Tbs. of the butter into a bowl; set aside.

Tilt the pan to coat the bottom with the remaining butter and return to medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir until it melts. Add the sliced bananas and cook until barely softened and lightly caramelized, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate. Reserve the pan.

Add the egg yolks, milk, vanilla, rum and salt to the bowl with the melted butter and whisk until blended. Gradually whisk in the flour, then stir in the banana puree.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until frothy. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

Using a rubber spatula, fold one-third of the egg whites into the batter, then fold in the remaining whites. Pour the batter into the fry pan and top with the caramelized bananas and pecans. Bake until the pancake is puffed and golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately. Serves 6.

Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.