Chocolate vs. Banana

I've avoided chocolate as a confection, as it's a mug's game. Too many have done it too well for too long; there's nothing that hasn't been tried and perfected. Plus, people don't really know or care what they're getting.

Chocolate by itself is unpleasant. It takes a ton of sugar to make it palatable, but then its complexities appear. The things that are added to it generally detract from its flavor. Vanilla is an exception, as it adds a flowery note otherwise missing. Coffee removes roasted bitterness. Almonds remove nuttiness. Cherries remove sourness and fruitiness. There's no variation in temperatures (mint and pepper/cinnamon/ginger can make up for some of that) and little in textures. The main positive attribute is that it melts in the mouth, but most people eat it too fast too notice.

On the opposite end of the flavor world is banana. It's quiet and not very weighty, which makes it difficult to make into candy, which mutes flavors still further. One can buy banana extract or banana oil or the chemical isoamyl acetate (one of the main flavor components), but these miss some of the flavors of the fruit.

There are no good banana candies. You can buy chocolate-covered bananas (which use coating compound, which isn't even chocolate), so it should be possible to make a banana/chocolate candy. The trick is to not let the chocolate overwhelm the flavor, so my plan was to make a banana candy, which could be dipped in a robe of chocolate.

This is what I got. It doesn't look like much, but it's candy gold (it's also under a yellowish light):

One takes a banana (I searched out some of the more exotic types) and roasts it in its skin like a plantain, caramelizing its sugars, then removes the pulp and mashes it with cream. Then that mixture is repeatedly frozen and thawed to break open the cell walls. The result is passed through a sieve and the solids further extracted with rum-based vanilla extract and then with heated cream. Sugar is added and the mass is heated to soft ball stage and rapidly cooled, aerated with frappe and agitated until set.

It's good as is, but cut into shapes, coated with dark chocolate and garnished with a macadamia nut, it's spectacular.