Fried Banana Split

Dear Friends,

People say you can’t improve on perfection. Well, it turns out you can. How? Take perfection, cover it in butter and fry it. It’s as easy as that.

And here’s the recipe:

Fried Banana Split

Roll call: banana bread, butter, chocolate chips, cream cheese, ice cream, instant vanilla pudding, maraschino cherries, strawberry jam, SHORTENING HAS BEEN FIRED. Not pictured: vegetable oil (for frying).

Okay, places, people, lets move! And we’re rolling!

First, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Slice the banana bread. Slice, slice, baby...

Butter one side of each slice.

Let’s Jam! Spread strawberry jam (really thin) on the other side. A kid took this picture, a wiggly kid.

Take the beautiful cream cheese and soften it in the microwave. All my favorite foods have cream cheese in them. Basically if you are in my kitchen and I say I’m making something good, you can safely bet it has cream cheese in it.

Mix pudding with the cream cheese. Probably half my favorites also have instant vanilla pudding in them too. I’m a person of simple taste, a minimalist, if you will... Which is why I feel the need to take something perfectly wonderful and try to make it better - I know that is what you were thinking.

Top this with a remaining banana bread slice. You want the butter sides to face out - like a grilled cheese.

Lower each sandwich gently in to the hot oil and fry these babies

.

They will turn a beautiful golden brown. Be attentive, they burn easily.

If you didn’t understand the connection between this fabulous dessert and the original fabulous dessert, here is the key:

Banana bread = Banana

Creamy mixture = Vanilla ice cream

Strawberry jam = Strawberry sauce

Chocolate chips = Chocolate syrup

Butter = Creates the crispy incomparable deliciousness which is similar (but not the same) as a waffle sundae dish. Sorry, butter just needs more words. 

Ice cream = Ice cream

Cherry = Cherry

Get it? Got it? Good. As in, really, really good.

So good, in fact, that I'm writing this from an unknown location where I'm being protected from an uprising of angry dietitians. Is that the thanks I get for creating this monster-- wonder? People these days!

Love,

Raimie

Recipe card:

1 loaf banana bread

Butter

Strawberry jam

8 oz softened cream cheese

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding

Chocolate chips

Vegetable oil (for frying)

Heat oil over medium heat. Slice banana bread. Spread one side with butter, spread the other side thinly with strawberry jam. Mix cream cheese with instant pudding. Spread on half the slices, on the jam side, sprinkle cream mixture with chocolate chips. Top with remaining slice, butter side out. Fry until golden brown.

Makes 6 Servings (or twelve if you half them)

Serve them with the ice cream and a cherry on top.They are incredible. Fabulous. Like perfection but butter-- I mean better.Spread a layer of the cream mixture over half the banana bread slices, on the jam side. Then sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the cream mixture.