Baked bananas in the oven

4 servings
25 min

All the same can be done without removing the bananas from the peel. It is enough only to cut the peel along the inner concave side along the entire fruit and slightly bend it off so that there is a small space between the peel and the flesh. Pour the juice, liqueur and syrup inside along the length of the bananas to fill the entire space between the banana body and the peel. In this case, most likely, more liquid ingredients will be needed. Put bananas on a baking sheet lined with foil so that the cut is on top and the juice does not flow out. It is also necessary to exclude the possibility of falling bananas on their sides, so choose a shape that will keep them in the right position. Heat-treated bananas have a certain circle of admirers. Usually people prefer fresh bananas. But banana pastries or whole baked fruits are not to their liking. Indeed, in bananas subjected to culinary processing, the usual taste often completely changes, they become very soft and slightly cloying. The exception is, perhaps, bananas in hot caramel. But even there, the fruits remain fresh, they are simply poured with hot caramel, which does not really affect the structure of the bananas themselves. If you doubt whether you will like the dish, it is better to bake one banana for a sample, and if you like the result, bake the rest.

How to bake bananas in the oven? Prepare the products. Choose fruits for baking, solid, ideally semi-ripe. In such bananas, the upper skin is hard, bright yellow and can have a greenish tint. Soft and overripe bananas will not work here: they will quickly darken during baking and look not very appetising. In addition, the taste of baked overgrown bananas is too cloying.

Wash, dry and peel the bananas. Be sure to wash bananas before use. The peel can contain many harmful microbes that, when cleaned, fall on the flesh.

Place the peeled bananas in the middle of a double sheet of foil. The foil breaks easily enough, so it is better to double it.

Pour lemon juice over them (I had limoncello liqueur to add a light alcoholic note to the bananas), mango juice and orange syrup. Orange syrup can be safely replaced with lemon syrup, which is sold in large and small chain stores. Citrus components of the recipe balance the sweetness of bananas with their acid. And mango juice highlights the tropical taste of the dish.

Wrap the bananas tightly in foil so that the juice does not flow out of the foil when baked. To do this, roll the foil with a converter. All envelope edges must be folded on top. Place the bananas in foil on a baking sheet and place in an oven preheated to 220 ° C. Bake them for about 15 minutes.

Transfer the hot bananas to plates and pour over the juice left in the foil. Properly chosen bananas will either not darken at all or darken slightly. It is better to eat them right away while the fruits are hot. As it cools, bananas will darken greatly, acquiring not the most beautiful appearance. You can serve the treat with a ball of not very sweet ice cream (ideally lemon sorbet or lemon ice cream) or whipped cream. Enjoy your meal!