A quick recipe for a hot fruit topping.

I’ll keep the intro stuff brief since I really hate drawn out intros to recipes and I bet you do, too.

I made waffles from scratch this morning and needed something — other than maple syrup [yawn] — to put on it. I had the ingredients for this, which I sometimes make to top vanilla ice cream. Try it the next time you want a hot fruity topping for an otherwise plain dessert or waffles.

Ingredients

• RIPE banana(s)
• Butter
• Brown Sugar
• Orange Juice
• Orange liquor (optional)

Yeah, I realize I didn’t put in amounts. The amounts you use depend on how much you want to make and how sweet you want it to be. If you’ve got any cooking experience at all, you should be able to figure it out. For the purpose of this recipe, I’m assuming that you use 1 to 3 bananas.

Preparation Steps

1. Slice up the banana(s) into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices.
2. Melt a tablespoon or two of butter in a pan.
3. Add the bananas and 2 to 4 tablespoons of brown sugar to the pan.
4. Saute for a minute or two. The banana slices should start losing their definition as they soften. With luck, the brown sugar isn’t a solid mass (like mine was) and will melt quickly. If it doesn’t, it will during the next step.
5. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of orange juice to the pan.
6. Bring mixture to a simmer. It should thicken a little. The longer you cook it, the thicker it’ll get. I usually cook it until the bananas are heated through and dissolving in a syrup. If the syrup is too thick for your taste, add more orange juice.
7. If desired, add a splash of orange liquor. Then cook 1 more minute.
8. Pour hot topping directly over ice cream, pound cake, waffles — whatever.

This absolutely rocks over vanilla ice cream. But it was pretty good over my waffles, too.