American cuisine
Sauce ingredients:
- 1 cup grade B organic maple syrup.
- 4 tbsp Earth Balance.
- Sea salt.
- 1 tbsp dark rum.
Oven-roasted bananas:
- 4 large, very ripe bananas.
Crust ingredients:
- ½ cup spelt flour.
- 1 tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar.
- 4 tbsp Earth Balance, partially melted.
- 4 tbsp ground cardamom.
- Bunch of ground ginger.
- ½ tsp Pinch of sea salt.
- 1 cup pecan nut flour.
Filling ingredients:
- 16 oz non dairy cream cheese.
- ¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar.
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon.
- ½ cup dark rum.
- 2 tbsp cornstarch.
- ¼ tsp salt.
- Toasted pecan halves.
To make nut flour:
- freeze raw nuts overnight.
- Place about 1 cup of the frozen nuts in a food processor
at a time and pulse until finely ground.
- Freezing the nuts prevents them from turning to nut
butter in the food processor as the blade heats up, but be warned, it will be
loud.
Roasted bananas directions:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Place the unpeeled bananas on a roasting pan and roast in
the center of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Until the bananas are soft, the skins are dark brown, and
some juice is seeping out.
- Let the bananas cool to room temperature in the pan in
their skins. Set aside.
- Increase the oven temperature to 400°F.
Maple rum sauce directions:
- In a small saucepan, combine the maple syrup, Earth
Balance, and salt to taste and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring
frequently, until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the rum, stirring well; be
careful, as the sauce will bubble up a bit.
- Let cool for a few minutes, then taste and add more salt
if necessary.
- Cool to room temperature, and then transfer to a squeeze
bottle.
- The sauce can be rewarmed by putting the bottle in a pan
of hot water off the heat.
Spiced pecan crust directions:
- Combine all the crust ingredients in a bowl and stir
until well incorporated.
- Press the crust into a 9-inch spring form pan and put in
the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Bake in the center of the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until
the crust looks a little dry and the edges are light golden.
- Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Filling directions:
- Peel the roasted bananas and remove any obvious strings.
- In a food processor, puree the bananas until very smooth.
- Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth,
scraping the sides of the bowl periodically.
- Do not over process, or the cream cheese will separate
and curdle.
- Pour the filling into the crust and bake on the center
rack of the oven for 10 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for another
35 to 45 minutes, until the top is the color of light brown sugar and the
center of the cheesecake is set but still jiggles slightly; a toothpick
inserted into the center should come out clean.
- Let the cheesecake cool to room temperature on a rack for
at least 1 hour.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for
at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.
Serve directions:
- Rewarm the sauce in a pan of hot water.
- Use an offset spatula or a thin knife to loosen the edges
of the cheesecake.
- Remove the sides of the pan, and cut the cake into
slices.
- Serve with the warm sauce and toasted pecans.