Ingredients

• 8 thick brioche slicesthick cut, ideally a day old
• 50 g butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Bananas

• 4 bananas, ripe but firmyellow with a few freckles; very ripe collapses in hot caramel
• 60 g dark brown sugar
• 50 g butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Sauce

• 50 ml maple syrup

Method

1. 01

   Slice the bananas

   Peel the bananas and cut them into thick slices on the diagonal, about 1.5 cm. Thin slices disintegrate in the caramel.

   4 bananas, ripe but firm

   Turn them once onlyEvery extra flip breaks the slices down and clouds the caramel with pulp.

2. 02

   Start the caramel

   Melt the butter for the bananas in a large frying pan over medium heat, then stir in the dark brown sugar, cinnamon, the crushed seeds of a cardamom pod if you are using it, and the pinch of salt. Let it bubble for about a minute until it looks like a smooth, glossy syrup rather than grainy melted sugar.

   50 g butter · 60 g dark brown sugar · 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3. 03

   Cook the bananas, barely

   Lay the banana slices in the pan in a single layer. Work in two batches rather than crowding them. Cook for 1-2 minutes a side, turning once only, until caramelised at the edges and just softened through. Any more handling and they break down into a puree.

4. 04

   Finish the sauce

   Add the vanilla and the maple syrup, swirl the pan rather than stirring, and let it bubble for 30-45 seconds until the sauce is glossy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Take off the heat.

   1 tsp vanilla · 50 ml maple syrup

5. 05

   Toast the brioche

   In a second large frying pan, melt the butter with the cinnamon over medium heat and fry the brioche slices for about 1-2 minutes a side, until deeply toasted and crisp at the edges. Go darker than feels comfortable. The contrast against the soft bananas is the whole point, and pale brioche goes soggy under the sauce.

   50 g butter · 1 tsp cinnamon · 8 thick brioche slices

   Two pans, on purposeThe brioche wants dry heat, the bananas want wet caramel. One pan and the bread goes soggy.

   Toast it darker than feels rightIt is the only crisp thing on the plate.

6. 06

   Serve immediately

   Pile the bananas onto the hot brioche and spoon the caramel over. This is a dish that waits for nobody: the toast softens within a couple of minutes.