“We took the banana split off the menu once and there was a petition started to bring it back.”

Banana splits

“We took this off the menu once and there was a petition started to bring it back. It’s still on the menu, end of story,” say Abrahanowicz and Milgate. “We make our own dulce de leche ice-cream, but you can buy excellent caramel ice-cream or gelato these days.” Start this recipe at least a day ahead to make the flan, marshmallow and biscuit.

Prep time 2¾ hrs, cook 2½ hrs (plus cooling, chilling, freezing)

Makes 8

4 ripe bananas, unpeeled

20 gm butter, diced

1 tbsp lemon juice

3-4 tbsp caster sugar

150 ml pouring cream

Dulce de leche ice-cream and coarsely chopped roasted salted peanuts, to serve

Flan

90 gm caster sugar

1½ tsp rice wine vinegar

10 eggwhites, at room temperature

900 ml pouring cream, at room temperature 150 ml milk, at room temperature

Banana marshmallow

600 gm ripe bananas, unpeeled

250 gm caster sugar

3 titanium-strength gelatine leaves, softened in cold water for 5 minutes

Spiced biscuit

100 ml milk

85 gm brown sugar

85 gm honey

15 ml each dark rum and Pernod ¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground cloves

170 gm plain flour

1 tbsp caster sugar

Caramel sauce

125 gm caster sugar

¼ vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped 50 ml rice vinegar

1 For flan, preheat oven to 140C. Stir sugar and 30ml water in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil and cook without stirring until caramelised (5-7 minutes). Remove from heat, carefully add vinegar (hot caramel will spit), swirl to combine, then quickly pour into an 18cm x 24cm cake tin, tilting to cover base, and set aside. Whisk eggwhites, cream and milk in a bowl, pour into tin over caramel and cover with foil. Place in a roasting pan, add hot water to come halfway up sides of tin and bake until just firm (1½-1¾ hours). Uncover, cool to room temperature (2-3 hours), then refrigerate overnight to set. 2 For banana marshmallow, line a 3cm-deep, 21cm x 26cm baking tin with baking paper. Steam bananas until skins split and flesh is evenly soft (10-15 minutes). Scoop out flesh (you need 260gm), process in a food processor until smooth, then transfer to an electric mixer fitted with a whisk. Stir sugar and 85ml water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil and cook without stirring until syrup reaches 125C on a sugar thermometer (6-8 minutes). Meanwhile, whisk banana at high speed. When syrup reaches temperature, remove from heat, squeeze excess water from gelatine and stir into syrup to dissolve. While whisking, gradually add syrup to banana, drizzling down the side of the bowl, whisking until light and fluffy and cooled to room temperature (20-25 minutes). Spread in prepared tin, cover with a piece of non-stick baking paper and refrigerate overnight.

3 For spiced biscuit, preheat oven to 160C, and butter and line an 8cm x 15cm cake tin with baking paper. Beat ingredients except flour and caster sugar in an electric mixer until brown sugar dissolves (1-2 minutes), then add flour and beat on low speed to just combine. Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake until golden brown and fairly firm (1-1¼ hours). Cool, then trim crusts and cut into a 4cm x 4cm x 12cm rectangular block. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze overnight.

Preheat oven to 170C. Cut 8 very thin slices of biscuit lengthways with a very sharp knife and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Stir caster sugar and 1 tbsp water in a bowl, brush onto biscuits, then bake until slightly darkened and crisp (5-10 minutes). Cool, then store in an airtight container between layers of baking paper. 4 For caramel sauce, stir sugar, vanilla bean and seeds and 60ml water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil and cook without stirring until dark caramel (6-8 minutes). Remove from heat, carefully add vinegar (hot caramel will spit), cool, then discard vanilla bean and refrigerate until required.

5 Steam bananas until skins split and flesh is soft throughout (10-15 minutes). Scoop out flesh and process in a food processor with butter, lemon juice and sugar to taste. Add cream, blend until smooth and refrigerate until chilled.

6 To serve, spoon a little banana purée onto each plate and run the back of a spoon through it to spread it out slightly. Slice flan into eight

4cm x 11cm rectangles and place on top of banana purée. Cut marshmallow into eight

4cm x 11cm rectangles and place on top of flan. Brown tops with a blowtorch, then top each serving with a spiced biscuit, drizzle with a little caramel sauce, place a scoop of dulce de leche ice-cream on each plate and scatter with peanuts. Wine suggestion Late-harvest torrontés.