I wish I could have shared this dessert with you. If you are lucky enough to be in Seattle, then head over to Monsoon for your own taste. Their menu changes daily, so if it’s not listed, then beg – literally, get on your hands and knees and beg – them to make it for you. And if you have to muster up the alligator tears, then do so. It’s worth it, my friend. This dessert tastes as good as you feel when someone tells you your new jeans make you look skinny. Pretty-Darn-Good.

The banana cake is so moist and chunky it’s almost bread pudding. To balance the sweetness they brilliantly serve it on top of a savory coconut cream, creating the perfect salty-sweet treat.

My belly thanked me, my thighs aren’t speaking to me.

Below is my best attempt at recreating this fantastic dessert.

Banana Cake

1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 275°. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan. In a small bowl, mash banana and add the lemon juice; set aside. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. One at a time, beat in the eggs, then add the vanilla. Alternating between the two, beat in the flour mixture and the buttermilk. Stir in the banana mixture. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake in a preheated oven for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Savory Coconut Sauce
The sauce at Monsoon was slightly thick and salty, not sweet. Simmer the ingredients below over medium high heat until sauce begins to thicken.

1 14 ounce can of coconut milk
1 cup of heavy cream
2-3 pinches of salt

Possibly Related Posts:

• More Than You Want to Know About Cranberry Sauce
• The Ultimate Holiday Cookie Contest!
• Pumpkin Pie vs. Pecan Pie
• How to Get the Seeds out of a Pomegranate
• What to Wear to Your Next Dinner Party

When you land at the airport in Obregón, Mexico, as we did on our way back from Puerto Vallarta, you can buy candied apples for $2 a piece. And here’s the best part – the Mexican Immigration and Customs officials are the ones selling them! Like Girl Scouts selling cookies they have them sitting right there on the desk in a cardboard box. A dozen or so beautiful tamarind candied apples wrapped in cellophane and tied with little ribbons. I’d love to know how the wife suckered her Customs Official-husband into selling her apples to tourists. “Gustavo, just a few, por favor. They’ll love them, just you wait.” And we did. On the way down we bought one and the way back we bought five. How do you like them apples?

After tasting the tamarind apple I will no longer be able to eat a regular old caramel apple (when was the last time I had one anyway I cannot tell you). It was unlike anything we had ever eaten. Crisp Granny Smith apples were wrapped in a paste made of tamarind (a sweet and sour fruit pulp), chili powder, sugar and salt. The result is a perfect balance of sweet, sour, salty and spicy.

Wouldn’t it be nice if our Customs officials sold sweet little treats to tourists…apple by apple we could whittle away at the national debt!

Possibly Related Posts:

• More Than You Want to Know About Cranberry Sauce
• How to Get the Seeds out of a Pomegranate
• Raw Tacos
• Winter Squash is Delicious, Healthy, and in Season
• Breadfruit Coconut Curry