Caramel-Rum Bananas with Flour-less Chocolate Cake and Saffron Custard

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a five-course meal! Evan's Kitchen is throwing a fiesta, so we jumped to the dessert course for a sneak peek. Pastry Chef Kayla Jenkins showed us how to make caramel-rum bananas with chocolate flourless cake.

Saffron Custard
(yields 1 ¼ cups)
½ sheet gelatin
¾ cup heavy cream
¼ cup whole milk
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon saffron
1 large egg yolk

In a bowl of ice water, bloom gelatin. Squeeze out excess water. In a saucepan over high heat, boil cream, milk, sugar and saffron. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolk. Whisk cream mixture into yolk to temper. Return mixture to saucepan over medium heat, and bring to 185°F, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add bloomed gelatin. Stir until dissolved. Chill until set, about 3 hours. Custard can be stored in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Chocolate Cake
(yields 4 servings)
2 ¾ tablespoon unsalted butter, plus butter for preparing pan
3 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 ½ tablespoons of water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 300°F. Prepare 4 2 inch ring molds (at least 1 ½ inches tall) by lining the bottom with aluminum foil to create pans. Make sure the edges of the foil reach almost to the top of the molds. Brush each with butter.

In a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter, and whisk until smooth. In a saucepan over high heat, combine water and sugar, and boil 3 minutes to make simple syrup. Add syrup to melted chocolate. Whisk until smooth. Add egg and whisk until smooth.

Pour ¼ cup batter into each prepared pan. Place pans in a roasting pan and pour in enough hot water to come half way up the side of the cake pans. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until cakes have just stopped moving in the center, 20 minutes. (Check cakes after 10 minutes and rotate in the oven.) Remove cake pans from water and refrigerate until completely set, about 1 hour. Remove cakes from pan and chill until ready to serve.

Caramel-Rum Bananas and sauce
(yields 12 pieces and 1 ¼ cups sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon glucose syrup
½ cup water
¼ cup dark rum
1 large banana

In a saucepan over high heat, combine sugar, glucose syrup, and ¼ cup water. Bring to a boil and continue cooking until sugar begins to caramelize. Remove from heat and add remaining ¼ cup water and the rum. Be cautious, as caramel will spit when liquid is added. Return to heat and continue cooking until caramel reaches 219°F, about 10 minutes. Cool slightly.

Prepare bananas about 30 minutes before serving. Peel banana and slice into 12 rounds; place in a sealable plastic bag. Add warm caramel to bananas and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove bananas and put remaining caramel in saucepan. Reduce over high heat 3-4 minutes.
Cool.

Putting it all together
Smear a dollop of saffron custard on four chilled plates. Place one chocolate cake on each plate. Pile 3 banana slices beside each cake, then drizzle bananas with ¼ cup caramel-rum sauce.