CARAMELIZED-BANANA TARTLETS WITH BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE PORT SAUCE

Caramelized-Banana Tartlets with Bittersweet Chocolate Port Sauce image

Categories Chocolate Dessert Bake Valentine's Day Banana Port Hazelnut Bon Appétit Vegetarian Pescatarian Peanut Free Soy Free Kosher

Yield Makes 6

Number Of Ingredients 15

Ingredients

Crust
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup hazelnuts, lightly toasted, ground
1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour
Filling
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
6 medium-size slightly under-ripe bananas, peeled, each cut on diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices, divided
1/2 cup sugar, divided
6 tablespoons warm water, divided
1 pint premium vanilla ice cream
Bittersweet Chocolate-Port Sauce

Steps:

For crust:
Using electric mixer, beat first 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Add flour; beat until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces. Press 1 piece evenly onto bottom and up sides of each of six 4 1/2-inch-diameter tartlet pans with removable bottoms. Bake crusts until deep golden brown and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Cool crusts completely in pans on rack. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.)
For filling:
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until beginning to brown. Add half of bananas to skillet in single layer; cook until bananas brown on bottom, about 45 seconds. Using thin spatula, turn slices over; sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar evenly over bananas. Cook until sugar dissolves and turns golden, occasionally swirling pan, about 3 minutes. Turn banana slices over; add 3 tablespoons warm water and continue cooking until caramel thickens slightly, swirling pan, about 2 minutes. Arrange banana slices in each of 3 tartlet crusts; spoon any caramel from skillet over. Clean skillet, then repeat procedure with remaining butter, bananas, sugar, and water. (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Let stand uncovered at room temperature. Warm in 350°F oven 10 minutes before continuing recipe.)
Top each tartlet with scoop of vanilla ice cream. Drizzle each tartlet with Bittersweet Chocolate-Port Sauce and serve.