Grilled Bananas and Peaches with Caramel Sauce

Grilling fruit is a fun and delicious way to prepare dessert in the summertime. It’s also a nice way to impress your guests without much effort! Bananas and peaches are my usual go-to grilling fruits, and my friend Jay also does grilled pineapple. Preparation is simple and grilling time only takes a few minutes.

First thing you want to do is clean your grill of all charred food remnants, so that you’re cooking on a clean surface. I suggest using a gas grill instead of a charcoal grill. I’ve had fruit grilled on both, and the charcoal grills tend to leave a smokey taste to the fruit.

Preparing the fruit is very simple. First you want to slice the fruit.
• For the bananas, you’ll want to slice the banana in half, length-wise. You can then cut the two pieces in half, to get 4 equal parts. Do not remove the banana from the peel.
• For peaches, slice in half and remove pit.
• For pineapple, remove the skin, then cut down to 1″ thick slices (you can serve the slices as whole or half).

Next, you’ll want to season the fruit. I like to sprinkle some brown sugar and cinnamon on the cut side of the fruit. You can also brush with melted butter or honey to sweeten it up a bit, but I prefer the brown sugar and cinnamon on their own. You’ll want to do this about 5 minutes before grilling, so that the seasoning settles into the fruit.

Now you’re ready for grilling. Preheat the grill and be sure to use some non-stick spray on the grates. Place the fruit cut-side down for about 4 minutes, until the fruit starts to get slightly charred. If doing pineapple, you can cook each side for 4 minutes. Remove the fruit, plate it grilled side up, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Magic!

If you REALLY want to wow and impress your guests, add a drizzle of home made caramel sauce to this already elegant dish. Yes, I said HOME-MADE CARAMEL SAUCE. Sounds intricate and impressive, but home made caramel sauce is incredibly easy to make. It also makes for a good parlor trick when you’re hosting. “Hey, you know what would go really good with this? Home made caramel sauce! Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be right back…” I’m telling you, your guests will be talking about this for years to come. The ingredients are very simple: sugar, heavy whipping cream and butter. And the best way to remember the measurements is by the 1:1:1 ratio. In other words, you’re using equal parts sugar, heavy whipping cream and butter, depending on how much you need to make.

Heat up the sugar in a pot over medium heat, until it dissolves, stirring occasionally (you can add a tablespoon of water to it to help it along). Be very careful while doing this. Hot sugar will not only burn you, it will also stick to your skin. Once it dissolves, it turns into a beautiful amber-colored syrup. Remove from the heat, carefully add the cream and whisk. The cream will start to boil at contact. Whisk until combined, add butter and continue to whisk. Once combined, let cool for a few minutes, the serve. The caramel will keep for about a month when covered tight and placed in the refrigerator.

DON’T FORGET TO ADD A LITTLE CAPTAIN TO YOUR CARAMEL!
Cooking with spirits is always a fun and easy way to add flavor and a little kick to your dish. Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum is the perfect compliment to home made caramel sauce. For the adult crowd, whisk in a splash or two (to your liking) just as the caramel starts to cool. If you’re looking to cut back on the alcohol kick, heat up the spiced rum in a pan to cook off the alcohol. Not only will the addition of the spiced rum accentuate the taste of the grilled fruit, it also makes for the perfect topping for ice cream, pound cake, cheese cake, cinnamon buns, bread pudding…you name it!