# banana coulis - concerns with color and flavor



## pastrysautegirl (Feb 2, 2011)

i just finished writing a new winter dessert menu within which one of my components is a banana coulis. i want to keep the coulis looking and tasting clean, but am a little concerned that the color will muddy. i can make the coulis every day if necessary, but would also like to avoid generating waste as our distributors' produce prices have sky-rocketed. i know that lemon juice usually aids with a problem like this, and i was thinking that citric acid (which i have in the kitchen) may do the job? has anyone done a coulis with banana like this? any tips would be so very much appreciated, thanks.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Try a drop or two of yellow food coloring to brighten it up.


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## jellly (Jan 3, 2005)

Funny, I was dealing with the same issue.  The banana sauce looks ok if it is going on something like a bread pudding, but I needed something to decorate the plate and the color just isn't appetizing.  Not sure if this will work for your dessert, but my solution was to make a clear caramel sauce (no dairy), then I added banana liqueur.  The look is much better and the flavor is nice, too.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

I like the idea of a liquor. The fresh banana will darken (oxidize) if you add lemon you will taste it, if you add citric acid you will taste that to, if you add a sulphite you will also taste.it. There is really no way to stop it. It's the nature of the beast. Try  puree mixed with ice cream, or a sherbert this may work.


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## jessiquina (Nov 4, 2005)

why not do a creme de banana creme anglaise?


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

I use this as a vanilla sauce, maybe if you put pureed bananna in it it would work'

Simple vanilla sauce and consistant every time..

Yield 1 pint.. Just let 1 pint of Hagen Daz ice cream melt add nothing It"s great. They use great vanilla and good grade of cream, butterfat content is perfect. never had complaint


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## blwilson2039 (Aug 26, 2010)

Anytime I use banana in a sauce, I caramelize diced bananas in some brown sugar, butter and sometimes cinnamon. It will appear on the dar side, but heating the banana takes care of the oxidation problem. I like the idea of using Creme de Banana in an anglaise, too. And you can also get banana compound from your supplier, although some of them taste artificial to me, depending on what I'm using it for.


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