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Cartola
Cartola: Recife's dessert of fried banana under melted cheese and cinnamon sugar
Sweet, salty and hot all at once, cartola ('top hat') is a Pernambuco dessert that sounds odd and tastes like it was always meant to be. Bananas are fried in butter until caramel-edged, covered with slices of coalho or queijo manteiga that melt into a blanket, then showered with cinnamon sugar. It turns up on Recife lunch menus, in hotel buffets and in home kitchens after Sunday lunch, and needs nothing else, though a scoop of vanilla ice cream is welcome. Bananas-prata or ripe plantains are used locally; firm, just-ripe bananas are the nearest swap. Coalho is often made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian version or a vegetarian halloumi. Avoid overripe fruit; it collapses in the pan and the cheese slides off. Chef's tip: finish under a hot grill for a minute so the cinnamon sugar bubbles into a thin, crackly crust.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
To serve
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Melt 1 oz butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat until it foams. Add 4 just-ripe bananas cut-side down and fry for 3 minutes, until golden and caramelised underneath.
3 minStep 2: Turn and fry for 2 minutes more, until soft but still holding their shape. Move them to an ovenproof dish in a single layer. Heat the grill to high.
2 minStep 3: Lay 7 oz queijo coalho or queijo manteiga over the bananas so they are completely covered.
Step 4: Mix 3 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon and sprinkle it evenly over the cheese.
Step 5: Slide under the grill for 2–4 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the sugar is bubbling and starting to darken at the edges.
3 minStep 6: Serve hot, straight from the dish, with 4 scoops vanilla ice cream if you like.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 12 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cartola take?
- About 20 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of just-ripe bananas?
- Mango, same weight (in smoothies and shakes).
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
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