Banana-Caramel Shortcakes

By goldens64

A sweet departure from the traditional strawberry shortcake, this decadent version features shortcakes with bananas blanketed in homemade caramel, whipped cream and chopped walnuts.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup(s) sugar
• 2 tablespoon(s) water
• 3 tablespoon(s) butter
• 1/2 cup(s) heavy cream
• Garnish: chopped walnuts
• 1 1/3 cup(s) flour
• 1/4 cup(s) finely chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoon(s) sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon(s) sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1 cup(s) heavy cream
• 2 ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup(s) heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon(s) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• Garnish: chopped walnuts

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 90mins
Adapted from womansday.com

Preparation

Step 1

Heat oven to 425ºF. You'll need a baking sheet.

Stir sugar and water in a heavy 2-qt saucepan over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 5 minutes, without stirring, scraping down sides of pan if mixture starts to crystallize around edges, or until mixture is caramel-colored. Whisk in butter until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Scrape into a medium bowl; cover loosely and refrigerate until cool.

Whisk flour, walnuts, 2 Tbsp sugar, the baking powder and salt in a medium bowl until blended. Add cream; stir with a fork until mixture comes together to form a dough.

Transfer dough to work surface and form into a 6-in.-long log. Cut into 6 rounds. Place rounds on ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle tops with remaining sugar.

Bake 14 to 17 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Slice bananas and stir into caramel sauce. Beat cream, sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form when beaters are lifted. Halve shortcakes with a serrated knife. Place bottoms on dessert plates. Top each bottom with scant 1⁄4 cup banana-caramel mixture, then about 3 Tbsp whipped cream. Top with biscuit tops, 2 Tbsp banana-caramel mixture and 1 Tbsp whipped cream. Garnish. Plan ahead: Bake shortcakes no more than 8 hours before serving. When they're cool, store tightly covered at room temperature. Make the caramel sauce up to a week ahead and store in the refrigerator. Of course, if time's really short, you can substitute bottled caramel sauce for the homemade.

Woman's Day