Caramelized Banana Tartlet

Recently we tested out these caramelized banana tartlets for an event we were doing.  They were gone in the blink of an eye and received great reviews!  It is made of phyllo dough, caramel sauce, and caramelized bananas.  Here is our recipe:

Phyllo dough tartlet shells (24 mini tartlets) :

8 oz. (1 roll) frozen phyllo dough

8 oz. unsalted butter, melted

Granulated sugar

1. Thaw out the phyllo dough overnight in the fridge.

2. Preheat oven to 350F. Brush 2 mini muffin tins with melted butter.

3. Keep phyllo dough covered as you work with it or it will dry out quickly.

4. Brush butter on one piece of dough. Sprinkle sugar evenly over the butter. Place another sheet over.

5. Repeat this process until you have used 6 sheets. 

6. Use a sharp biscuit cutter to cut circles. Your cutter should be a few inches wider than than the diameter of your muffin cup.

7. Place cut dough circles (6 layers of dough in each circle) in the muffin cups. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

8. Proceed with the caramel sauce recipe.

Caramel Sauce (taken from CIA baking and pastry book)

12 fl oz heavy cream

7 oz sugar

5 oz corn syrup-light

1 oz butter, soft and cubed

1. Place the cream in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Leave over very low heat to keep warm. 

2. Combine sugar and corn syrup in saucepan and slowly cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved. Brush sides of pan with water to eliminate granules on the sides.

3. Continue to cook the until the sugar is golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in butter. 

4. Stir in hot cream gradually until fully blended. Cool.

Tart assembly

Phyllo tartlet shells

Caramel sauce, cool

2 bananas, sliced 1/2 inche thick

Granulated sugar

1. Toss banana slices in sugar.

2. Place on sheet pan and caramelize. You can use a torch or a broiler, but be careful to avoid burning.

3. Fill tartlet shells up about halfway with caramel sauce. Place one banana slice on the top of each tartlet.