Baked and fried bananas are popular in the Caribbean - I encountered them before in this project while cooking Aruban food. I decided to make this recipe not as much expecting something new, but as an excuse to use some of the Curacao liqueur I bought to make Mai Tais. But I'm really glad I made these bananas because they were absolutely delicious.

I made two batches of the bananas, one for the adults with the curacao and another one for the kids without it. I'm sad to say that the curacao made no difference in taste, it didn't even give them an alcoholic taste (which makes sense, as the alcohol would have evaporated). I did omit the 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon the original recipe asked for, I just forgot about it. Add it if you like cinnamon. The original recipe also asked for 6 Tbsp. of rum to be poured over the bananas after they are cooked. I, personally, don't like alcoholic tastes, so I omitted it, but feel free to add it as well.

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Caribbean bananas

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. butter + more for greasing pan
• 6 bananas
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup Curacao Liqueur (optional)
• Rind of 1 orange, grated
• 1/3 cup loose brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450F. Butter a rimmed baking pan large enough to accommodate the bananas.

Split the bananas in half lengthwise, and place in the pan. Mix together the orange juice, curacao liqueur (if using), orange rind and brown sugar. Pour it over the bananas. Cut 2 Tbsp. butter into small cubes and place them on top of the bananas.

Bake for 7 minutes, baste, and then bake for an additional 7 minutes. Serve warm.

Adapted from a recipe at Recipe Island.