Flaming dessert

I really believe that Americans eat so few fruits and vegetables because they don t know what to do with them beyond simply peeling a banana or boiling a bunch of carrots. Pretty boring for the most part. Sure, a nice ripe banana can be a quick, tasty snack, but very little effort converts that humble banana into a spectacular flaming dessert. And those carrots come alive with flavor after adding a touch of this and a sprig of that. 

A flaming dessert is prepared using a liquor containing ethanol that undergoes combustion. 

Alcohols, similar to hydrocarbons, undergo combustion in the presence of oxygen. For example, in a restaurant, a flaming dessert may be prepared by pouring liquor on fruit or ice cream and lighting it (see Figure 12.6). The combustion of the ethanol in the liquor proceeds as follows ... 

You have probably seen images of a chef preparing a "flaming" dessert or entree. The flame is usually the result of the combustion of ethyl alcohol, C2H5OH, that has been added to the food (perhaps as cognac or rum). 

This is a variation on the classic recipe, eliminating the brandy added to the skillet to flame the dessert. You can do that if you wish, but it s really not necessary. 

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