Bananas Foster

Back in 2005, I joined a social organization - where I met Porter, that same year.

Before that point, though, I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone and traveled to the French Quarter in New Orleans to hang out with a couple thousand fellow nerds, NONE of whom I’d actually met in person before. Scary stuff for an introvert like me, but I had a blast!

Aside from making a ton of friends, I fell in love with the cuisine down there.

Jambalaya is still a favourite (and we often make my Dutch Oven Jambalaya when camping!), and I have a bunch of Bananas Foster inspired recipes on my first blog.

Bananas Foster Pralines, Bananas Foster Upside Down Cake,
Bananas Foster Caramel Popcorn ... I even made a Bananas Foster Pavlova for my “Haymitch” after my little reality show adventure!

The thing is... decadent Bananas Foster actually really works well as a camping dessert!

What is Bananas Foster?

This classic New Orleans dessert came to be back in 1951, at Owen Brennan's restaurant, Vieux Carré.

The owner’s brother ran a produce company, and found himself with too many bananas from South America on his hands. So, Owen asked his talented chef - Paul Blangé - and sister to create a dessert recipe to use up the bananas.

The resulting dessert was named after Richard Foster, a friend of Owen Brennan, and chairman of the New Orleans Crime Commission.

It was a modified version of a Brennan family recipe, involving using a flambé technique on caramelized bananas, with rum and a little cinnamon. The delicious dessert is served with some creamy ice cream, as a foil for the rich flavors in that caramel sauce.

These days, it’s one of the most popular desserts in fancy restaurants down there. It’s also an impressive dessert to make at home for a special occasion - I mean, you light it on fire. There’s a theatricality there, that works well for dinner parties!

Campfire Bananas Foster

As a Bananas Foster fan that generally has rum and cinnamon on hand in the RV, I knew that the original recipe would transfer well from a stove top recipe, to an outdoors version.

This easy bananas foster recipe has only minor tweaks to ingredients and cooking technique.

I omit the banana liqueur (which adds a little banana flavor to the rum caramel), because I just can’t be arsed to have any in the RV. I’m not big on single-use ingredients... and Bananas Foster is basically the only thing I’ve ever used Creme de Banane for.

Cooking it over a charcoal grill or campfire is a whole different vibe, btw. There’s something about dishing up classic Bananas Foster - still with a scoop of vanilla ice cream - while hanging around in PJs, listening to loons at - that feels... I don’t know. Like you’re getting away with something?

At least that was the case when we made this batch, at Pukaskwa National Park!

LOL, anyway, let’s look at what you’ll need to get a batch of this classic dessert going, yourself!

Ingredients

This recipe uses only a few basic ingredients - you won’t have any trouble finding everything you need in pretty much any grocery store. Well, and a liquor store, depending on the retail sale laws in your area!

As always, I have a few notes for you:

Bananas

This New Orleans classic starts out with bananas, obviously... and the bananas you use make a difference!

For the best flavour, you want ripe bananas - but not OVERLY ripe bananas. Starting out with really soft bananas can be iffy, as they can disintegrate during the cooking process.

That said, using bananas that are a bit more ripe = better banana flavour, which is important, given we’re not bothering with banana liquor.

While quartered bananas - as shown in this post - are traditional, you CAN slice them into rounds. Doing that gets you around the fragility of longer slices, and is a good workaround to using riper - and more flavourful - Bananas.

I definitely prefer to use more ripe bananas, sliced. More flavour, easier to work with, and a more convenient format for serving and eating, IMHO!

Rum

For the best depth of flavor, dark rum is what’s traditionally used. As always... pick something that you like the flavour of, for drinking.

For me, that’s Screech. I always have some available in the RV, so that’s convenient! It’s a Jamaican Black rum, popular in Newfoundland.

If you don’t want to use rum, I’d use a couple teaspoons of rum extract, RIGHT at the end. You’re also going to want to skip the flambeeing, in that case - the rum is the fuel for the fire.

Brown Sugar

You can use dark brown sugar or light brown sugar.

Recently I’ve found that light brown is easier to find, but I prefer dark brown in general.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Chopped Pecans
Ground Cinnamon
Vanilla Extract
Butter
Salt

I don’t have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go.

That said, consider how you want to serve it. Straight up with a scoop of ice cream is traditional, but let’s be real - warm bananas in a caramel rum sauce just begs to be served ON something!

When you slice the bananas into rounds, it’s great over French toast, baked into bread pudding, etc. Bananas Foster sauce is also amazing when served over pancakes!

How to Make Campfire Bananas Foster

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post; here is the visual walk through:

Get a good fire going. You can cook your Bananas Foster on a camp stove, over hot coals, or even over the open flame of a fire pit.

Peel the Bananas. Use a sharp knife to cut each in half crosswise, then cut each half in half again - lengthwise. Place the banana slices on a plate, cover, and set aside.

Optional: Toast the pecans for a few seconds in a large skillet over the prepared fire. As they start to get aromatic, remove from heat - I’ll usually put them on the plate with the bananas.

Measure the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a generous pinch of salt into your large skillet. Set the skillet over your prepared fire, stir frequently to melt the butter and combine ingredients into a caramel sauce.

After a couple of minutes - when the brown sugar seems to have dissolved - carefully add the bananas to the pan, in a single layer. Scatter the pecans over the bananas, and cook for a minute or so.

Carefully flip each of the banana slices. Add the rum and vanilla extract to the pan, swirling the pan to combine.

If you want to get fancy with it, stand a safe distance away and use a long lighter or a long match to ignite the rum - before swirling it. The fire will extinguish itself when the alcohol cooks off.

If you’re not used to flambeeing, it might be a good idea to have a fire extinguisher on hand. Also, feel free to skip this step - the alcohol will simmer off on its own.

Either way, 1-2 minutes after adding the rum, remove the pan from the heat.

Divide the bananas, sauce, and pecans between your serving dishes and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or some whipped cream, serve immediately.

Leftovers

Bananas Foster is definitely best when served fresh from the pan. That said, this recipe makes a fair amount!

Leftovers can be cooled to almost room temperature, then transferred to an airtight container and kept in the fridge for a few days. Leftovers are best served reheated.

More Camping Dessert Recipes

Looking for some sweet treats to cook over a campfire or grill? Here's a few of my favourites!

Apple Fritter Bread Pudding
Apple Fritter French Toast
Baked Apples, Campfire Style!
Banana Boats
Campfire Cones
Campfire Haystack Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
Easy Campfire Brownies
How to Make Maple Taffy
No Bake Cornflake Cookies
No-Bake S'Mores Bars
Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
Skillet Apple Crisp
Skillet Berry Crumble
S'mores Board

... But wait, there's more! Be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes.

Also, we had SO much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes for our camping trips, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!