Flaming dessert suggestion?

[Rhee]

I am meeting with some friends this weekend to put together a menu for a New Year's Eve dinner. I'd like to suggest a flaming dessert for the drama of it. Can anyone help? I'm thinking that something served over ice cream would be easy and well received. Cherried jubileee uses canned cherries. I would prefer something with fresh ingredients. I've had Banansa Foster in restaurants but have not been impressed with the taste. Chowhounds, please help me!!

Rhee

[Chuckles the Clone]

You could do what I did last month and simply forget the last pan of chocolate chip
cookies in the oven.

[Fleur]

Cherries Jubilee is a really wonderful Christmas / New Years dessert. You can make it with fresh frozen cherries if you can't find fresh. I use the cherries in a jar from Poland, and they are perfect. I usually make individual molds of Vanilla Ice Cream and freeze them solid. Prepare the cherries, flame them at the table, and pour of each plate.

[amandine]

My mom used to make a buche de noel with a chestnut creme filling, cover it with meringue, put it in the oven for a bit to warm it up, and then doused it with a little alcohol (grand marnier, I think) and lit it at the table. Very dramatic, and aren't yule logs supposed to be on fire, anyway? And the chestnut creme got all melty too...

[Adrienne]

Wow, that sounds perfectly Christmasy -- it's a version of "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" where the fire and logs are edible!

[scoobyhed]

You don't need a hotplate for bananas foster. Just carry the hot pan into the dining room after the bananas are cooked, add the rum, and ignite. As kaholo said, you shouldn't be adding the rum while the pan's on the hot stove anyway.

[Lovey Howell]

Here's instructions on the chocolate chipotle Baked Alaska I made last Christmas.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[scoobyhed]

Bananas Foster is really easy and fantastic. Melt 1/2c brown sugar and 1/2 stick of butter, then saute 2 bananas cut into quarters. Pour about a shot of good dark rum over top, set on fire, and baste the bananas with the sauce while it burns. After the fire's out, sprinkle on cinnamon and a little nutmeg and serve with vanilla ice cream. This is of course scalable, but it's more fun to do 2 bananas at a time and have multiple flamings.

[Rhee]

Thank you everyone! The bananas foster does sound very appealing. I may have to buy a hotplate so I can make it tableside. If I made crepes, I would want to make them in the kitchen which would not be as much fun. And you can't make crepes ahead of time can you?

[Chocolatechipkt]

Yes, you can. Just separate them with wax/parchment paper.

[kaholo1]

don't forget to add the rum to the pan while off the burner so you don't ignite the entire bottle...also some rum soaked rasins added to the dish is also a nice touch...also helps to be cooking over gas heat but a lighter will do the job...oh and dim the lights when you spark it...

[marlie202]

flamed coffee is nice too

[Candy]

that is cafe brulot, see above with a link.

[marlie202]

bananas foster with vanilla ice cream

[ESNY]

Make crepes and after you flip them, add some filling and fold the sides over it. Then add Grand Marnier, Banana schnapps, etc and flame it and then serve the crepes with the resulting sauce.

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

If you make a sweetened orange butter as the filling with flamed Grand Marnier, you have yourself Crepes Suzette.

[Candy]

What might be fun is cafe brulot. There are many recipes out there for it. Here is Emeril's

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recip...

The flames are a little more contained but it is a spetacular finish to a meal even with just some of your best Christmas Cookies along side

[MMRuth]

Great idea - my mother once gave me a special spoon for this purpose, and have never used it - will check out the link.

[ricepad]

I don't know if you've flamed food before, but remember to take safety measures, too: no loose hair or clothing, stay away from drapery and low-hanging light fixtures or plant baskets, and keep a fire extinguisher handy, too. A little excitement and drama is fun, but a lot of excitement and drama can be no fun at all!

[Rhee]

We'll be on an outdoor enclosed patio with portable heaters and nothing flammable. Thanks for the reminder!

[bobbyperu]

There's a great crepe restaurant in SF who's dessert I've copied many times - take a large crepe, spread with chantilly creme and sprinkle with a little shredded coconut, fold in half (or quarters if you've got a nice big one, top with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and a little more of the coconut, then flambe with rum. Delicious!

[MMRuth]

I'd practice ahead of time as well - this is something I've yet to try.

[kaholo1]

Bananas Foster...

[normalheightsfoodie]

We have done Baked Alaska for just such an occasion. It looks complicated but it really does not have to be. I would avoid the addition of the candied fruit. You can use a fun Ben and JErry's type of ice cream. You lower the lights as you present it, it looks great. Good Luck!

Jacques Pepin has a step by step recipe with picture in his Art of Cooking book.

[Rhee]

Thanks for the suggestion. Is Baked Alaska a flaming dessert? The recipes I have seen do not include that part.

[normalheightsfoodie]

You create a smallindentation on the top of the merangue, as yoou are ready to serve it you por in some brandy or cognac and it creates a beautiful blue flame against the white of the merangue

[Chocolatechipkt]

Earlier this year I posted a recipe for something called Flaming Beehive Enniscorthy, from an old cookbook from the National Cathedral Association. I haven't made it yet, but it sounds like fun. If you're interested: http://areyouhungryyet.blogspot.com/2...

[Chocolatechipkt]

I was going through some old files and realized I never reported back after making this cake. Because kids were involved, and even with alcohol evaporation, I cut back on some of the booze. The overall effect was fun (and tasty) though:

http://areyouhungryyet.blogspot.com/2...