When in Doubt, Add Rum

I wish I was giving you a recipe for Rabanadas today, but unfortunately I am not.

See, a while back I found a treat at Delessio's in San Francisco that truly blew me away. Simply labeled "Rabanadas" I had no idea that I was in for what may be, for me, the ultimate breakfast food/dessert.

Rabanadas are Brazilian French toast, and they are like American French toast on hyper drive. I tried desperately to recreate the crazy love child of French toast and a churro, but to no avail. Instead of a crispy, sugary, golden-brown outside with a creamy, custardy, melt-in-your-mouth center I ended up with soft, overly chewy, decidedly un-custardy echoes of what could have been.

Never one to waste what still had the makings of a halfway decent meal, I did what any sane person would do - cover the whole lot in a sauce. A brown sugar banana rum sauce to be exact. It did wonders for the "French toast", and, even though it couldn't be called anything close to rabanadas, I still ended up with a pretty decent breakfast.

If you have the chance to sample some rabanadas I highly recommend you take advantage of the opportunity. In the meantime I'll keep working on the at-home version and give you the consolation prize of directions for the banana rum sauce. Next time you run out of syrup or just need to jazz up your Sunday morning breakfast give it a try. There are worse things you could put on your short stack.

Brown Sugar Banana Rum Sauce
2 tbs of brown sugar per banana, approx
1 tbs butter per banana, approx
1 smallish banana per serving, sliced
A hearty splash of dark rum (1-2 tbs)
A dash of cinnamon
A pinch of salt

1) Begin to melt the sugar and butter over medium until it begins to bubble.
2) Add banana, rum, cinnamon and salt and continue to cook until banana becomes slightly softened.
3) Pour over pancakes, waffles, French toast,  or ice cream.