Super simple caramel sauce

Bananas are so good for your muscles, but some weeks, we don't eat them fast enough, i.e. before the dreaded brown spots start popping up. Someone who will remain nameless doesn't like the taste or texture of a ripe banana.

So usually, I just peel them and throw them in the freezer to be used for banana bread at some future time. But this morning I felt like bananas Foster, but didn't want to go to all the fuss.

So I just made a simple caramel sauce to pour over the sliced bananas. Delicious! Only four ingredients, and in simple proportions so I can keep it in my head.

Lori K's Simple Caramel Sauce
Serves 2 (can half or double and will keep for a week in the fridge)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons evaporated milk
Pinch or two of coarse salt

Instructions
Melt butter for 30 seconds in microwave in a 2-cup Pyrex measure. Add the brown sugar and evaporated milk, mix well, and return to the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well, and return to the microwave for 15 seconds.

Serve over sliced ripe bananas and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Enjoy!

Brown sugar, how come you dance so good?

Photo: © Lori Korleski Richardson

I love gooey, chewy caramel. But as I've gotten older, my teeth just can't handle it, and I'm tired of losing fillings to my sweet addiction.

I thought I'd try my hand this Christmas season at making some, but every recipe I found for caramels included corn syrup, which I refuse to buy. So what to do?

Then I remembered pralines. You can make them like caramels, or like a brown-sugar candy. I love both kinds, but thinking of my teeth, I opted for the latter. They are pretty easy to make. It helps if you have a candy thermometer, but that's no guarantee that they will set up. One sheet of mine did, the other didn't. Go figure. I put them in the freezer if they don't set up and use them for topping vanilla yogurt or ice cream.

Note: I keep my unsalted butter in the freezer. To use, I shred what I need with a grater. It comes to room temperature very quickly that way.

Lori K's Pralines
Makes 24 smallish ones

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar (I like dark best)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons butter, shredded
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped, plus 12 halves for decoration

Instructions
Melt the sugar and cream in a heavy pan over medium heat, using a silicone spoon to stir. Once it melts, turn up the heat a little and put in the candy thermometer, if using. Cook to soft-boil stage, 240 degrees, about 12 minutes. Turn the heat to simmer and let it cool down to 220 degrees. Add the vanilla and butter, and cook at 220 degrees for about 6 minutes until it's all well blended. Add the pecans and stir well.
Line two cookie sheets with parchment. Drop a spoonful of the mixture on the sheet, three across and four down. Top each with a pecan half. Repeat on the second sheet. The candy will harden as it comes to room temperature.

Make-ahead apple cake

This cake, courtesy of Diane Phillips, can be made up to a month ahead and frozen; the sauce can be made up to a week before and kept in the refrigerator.

Hot Apple Cake with Caramel Pecan Sauce
Serves 8

Ingredients for cake
2 sticks butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 tsp. vanilla

Ingredients for caramel sauce 
4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup pecan halves

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup whipping cream

Vanilla ice cream

Instructions
To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch cake pan. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, until well blended. Add flour, spices and soda and beat until just incorporated. Mix in the apples, nuts and vanilla. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove to rack to cool. Refrigerate the cake when cooled. Reheat in 350-degree oven for 10 minutes before serving.

To make the caramel sauce: Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add pecan halves. Add brown sugar and whipping cream, and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce boils and sugar dissolves. Refrigerate for up to a week. To serve, place a wedge of warm cake onto dessert plate. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and spoon hot caramel pecan sauce over all.

Per serving (with sauce and ice cream): 485 cal.; 5 g pro.; 52 g carb.; 29 g fat (15 sat., 11 monounsat., 3 polyunsat.); 115 mg chol.; 177 mg sod.; 2 g fiber; 31 g sugar; 54 percent calories from fat.

More a question than a post today

What is it about flying that makes one crave chocolate, caramel and nuts? Here I am trying to eat healthfully, having a packed a breakfast and all, but still I'd just rather be munching on a Tolberone (OK, I know it's nougat in there, but the sugar/nut mixture gives it a nice crunch, which makes a great stand-in for gooey caramel). What's up with that?

It's not like I'm getting much exercise sitting here in this pressurized tube hurtling 492 mph through the air. And the ultra-violet (hyphenated, because the purple likely doesn't contain harmful rays) lights gives this Virgin America flight the feeling of being stuck in a crowded bar without enough space around the bar stools to keep from elbowing the other customers.

Just to make this clear, I'm blogging from 34,693 feet, heading to San Francisco. No restaurants this trip, just friends, fun and good food. Ciao!