Plátanos Congelados

The banana frozen solid before it is dipped, so the chocolate sets on contact instead of sliding off.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 8 bananas, firm and just ripe
• 8 wooden sticks
• 400 g dark chocolate
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 150 g peanuts, chopped
• 50 g desiccated coconut
• chamoy, as on its own page, to serve (optional)

Method

1. THE BANANA IS FROZEN SOLID BEFORE IT IS DIPPED, so the chocolate sets on contact instead of sliding off. A banana at room temperature dipped in melted chocolate comes out with a thin coat that stays liquid, runs down the stick onto the hand, and pools on the tray -- and the warm fruit also starts to go brown and soft inside it. Frozen hard for at least four hours, the surface is far below the setting point of the chocolate, and the coat seizes solid within about three seconds of being lifted out. That is also the only window in which the nuts will stick, which is why they are scattered on immediately rather than after the next banana is dipped.
2. THE CHOCOLATE IS THINNED WITH COCONUT OIL AND USED BARELY WARM. Two tablespoons to four hundred grams. Undiluted dark chocolate sets into a thick brittle shell that shatters off the banana at the first bite; the oil gives a thinner coat that cracks neatly. And it is cooled to just above setting point before dipping -- hot chocolate melts the surface of the banana and the coat slides.
3. THE STICKS GO IN BEFORE FREEZING AND THE BANANAS ARE HALVED. A whole banana is too heavy for a stick and snaps off it. Halved across, stick pushed into the cut end a good two-thirds of the way up, then frozen -- the freezing is what locks the stick in.
4. THEY ARE DIPPED ONE AT A TIME AND RETURNED TO THE FREEZER AT ONCE. Out of the freezer, dipped, rolled in nuts, straight back in. A tray of eight left on the side while the rest are done will be sweating under their chocolate within five minutes, and condensation between fruit and coat makes the shell slide off in one piece.
5. THE CHOCOLATE IS IN A TALL NARROW CONTAINER AND NOT A WIDE BOWL. A mug or a tall jug, so the banana can be submerged almost to the stick in one movement. In a shallow bowl it has to be rolled and turned, and every extra second the frozen surface is in warm chocolate thickens the coat unevenly.
6. The bananas peeled and cut in HALF across.
7. A wooden stick pushed into the cut end of each, two-thirds of the way up.
8. Laid on a lined tray and FROZEN SOLID -- at least 4 HOURS, or overnight.
9. The chopped peanuts and coconut put in shallow bowls within reach, and a lined tray made ready.
10. The chocolate and coconut oil melted together over barely simmering water, then COOLED to just above setting point -- barely warm to the lip.
11. Poured into a TALL narrow mug or jug.
12. ONE banana taken from the freezer at a time.
13. Dipped in one movement, almost to the stick, and lifted out.
14. Held 3 SECONDS while the coat SEIZES, then rolled or scattered at once with peanuts or coconut.
15. Put straight back on the tray IN THE FREEZER before the next one is taken out.
16. Frozen a further 30 MINUTES to set hard.
17. Served straight from the freezer, with chamoy drizzled over if wanted.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes