chocolate-banana crepes with rum sauce
This spectacular dish is inspired by the Nutella-and-banana crepes that are popular street food in Paris. We’ve made these sweeties even more decadent with a rum sauce. Peel 3 bananas and cut diagonally into 1-inch slices. Combine 2 Tbsp heavy cream, 2 Tbsp rum and 1 tsp vanilla extract; set aside. Heat 4 ready-to-use 9½- to 10-inch French-style crepes (such as Melissa’s) according to package directions. Spread crepes evenly with 1 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (such as Nutella). Fold each crepe into quarters; place 1 on each of 4 plates. Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add ¼ cup packed
dark brown sugar and a pinch of salt; cook 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves completely, stirring occasionally. Carefully stir in cream mixture (it may spatter). Add bananas. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly (mixture will harden a bit, then liquefy), turning bananas to coat. Spoon bananas evenly over crepes. Drizzle with sauce. Sprinkle with ¼ cup chopped toasted pecans. Serves 4.
It might seem like an all-American meal, but we have the Brits to thank for brunch. The first mention of the playful mash-up of breakfast and lunch appeared in 1895, when British author Guy Beringer touted it as a convivial after-church Sunday meal that “sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” That’s still true today!
The post-church brunch was adopted in the States too, but brunch really started catching on in the 1930s, when movie stars traveling cross-country by train stopped off in Chicago for a latemorning meal at the swanky Ambassador Hotel’s Pump Room.
The church brunch hasn’t gone away completely, though. The analytics firm Crimson Hexagon crunched social media data and found that the after-church brunch is still popular in the Midwest and South. But the millennialdriven “boozy brunch,” marked by bottomless mimosas and other cocktails, is a hot trend in major cities and college towns across the country, especially in the Northeast.
Need more inspiration? Go to Parade.com/brunch for 15 popular brunch recipes.