Sunday 3 February 2013

Banana Drama

Sfogliatini di Banana
Puff-Pastry Wrapped Banana Bites


Ok- here's a question for you: how much fun can bananas be for breakfast? Sure, you can chop them up into yogurt, fry them in your pancakes or make a banana loaf even... but that's all ordinary stuff. How can you wow for family and friends- or even yourself, with a simple banana and an absolute minimum of effort? 

So apart from a nice ripe banana, the only other thing you are going to need is some cinnamon and some puff pastry. In 15-20 minutes, you are going to have these wonderful little pastries ready to go- with a really intensely sweet banana flavor. The cool part is that there is no other sweetness added , other than what Mother Nature already provided- you will be amazed at how dramatically the flavor of a simple banana can change as if by magic!
  

To make these, I simply cut the banana into thirds- disposing of the tapered end pieces nonchalantly straight into my mouth- cooks treat! I rolled the banana in cinnamon- not too much!- then cut the puff pastry into narrow strips and simply wound it around the banana sections, making sure that it slightly overlapped. When I found that the strip of pastry was not long enough, I simply pressed another one directly on top of where the first strip ended and carried on... no fuss and no worries! On a couple of them, I folded the strip of pastry that was too long across the top, which also looked really nice- have fun! Puff pastry is pretty unforgiving!

I made sure to have the oven really hot, and then baked them on the middle shelf at 400°F for 15-20 minutes until they were puffed up and golden brown... delicious! I was amazed at how much juice began to ooze from the banana after 10 minutes of baking time already- that was not something I expected to happen! Once they had baked and cooled, I was blown away by how much more intense the flavor had become and at simply how SWEET they were- pretty cool with no added sugar or honey! And the cinnamon was a great addition too... I think you should try them! Because I know you will like them!

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