Banana Fritters with Caramel Sauce

Tyler is turning 9 soon and wants a Harry Potter themed birthday party. Lucky for me, I love Harry Potter just as much as he does. I threw myself a Harry Potter birthday party (yes I like planning parties) a few years ago and so have a pretty good game plan for what I want to do. However, main difference: Tyler doesn't like cake. Well, he likes cake, but not frosting. So I was looking through my Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook to see what alternative desserts we could serve. Et voila! Tyler said banana fritters sounded interesting. Here are the results from our test run.

Caramel Sauce

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Banana Fritters

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted, cooled
• 2 Tbsp whole milk
• oil for frying
• 3 ripe but firm bananas, sliced at an angle into 1/4 inch slices

For the caramel sauce: in a small saucepan, cook the sugar and water over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to bubble. Continue stirring occasionally, until the mixture turns a deep amber color.

Tyler's bananas were happy, especially with
the added powdered sugar

Remove the pan from the heat and add the cream and butter. The mixture will bubble up violently. Stir until it turns back to liquid. If hard lumps of the caramelized sugar remain, stir over low heat until they liquefy. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar until combined. Add the melted butter to the egg mixture and whisk until combined. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Add the milk and whisk until smooth.

Fill a large skillet with enough oil to come 1/4 inch up the sides. Heat the oil until it begins to shimmer. Using a fork, coat the banana slices in the batter, lift the slices out, and place them in the hot oil. Fry on both sides until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Remove from pan to paper lined plate to drain. repeat until all the banana slices are used up.

To serve, place 4 to 6 fritters on a dessert plate and drizzle with the warm caramel sauce. Serve immediately as the fritters don't keep well and turn soggy quickly. Also, the bananas will turn black.

NOTES: Forget the caramel sauce. I tried and failed miserably to make it as described. Maybe I stirred too much after the sugar was dissolved? It never turned an amber color and then the water all evaporated and it became a hard mess. So out came the chocolate syrup and all was well!

Tyler said these were totally a go for the party and in my mind, they are a great option too: cheap ingredients, really quick to make (if you skip the homemade caramel sauce). I just have to make sure I can make them while I have a household of 9 year olds running around.

Serves: 8
Total Time: 15 minutes

Recipe from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz