Nawlins Pastry and Confections with Chef George Geary

I had fun seeing Chef George Geary in New Orleans and then again here in Cincinnati just a few days ago. George has taught cooking and baking techniques in more than 72 schools across North America. A regular contributing editor to several magazines and newsletters, he has also been the Pastry Chef and Production Manager for the Walt Disney Corporation and the Marriott Corporation. He’s the author of several cookbooks- with more on the way! If you listen to me on Jeff and Jenn on Q102 Friday morning, April 25th, you'll know what to do to get a chance to win a copy of George's lastest cookbook.

George taught Nawlins Pastry and Confections at EQ. Here are a few of the recipes from class.

Enjoy!

Amy

Banana Fosters Flambe

Serves 4

The restaurant Brennan’s in the French Quarter created this dessert and named it after one of its patrons in the 1950’s.

¼ cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar, brown sugar

2 large bananas

2 ounces banana liqueur

4 ounces rum

1 dash cinnamon

1 pint vanilla ice cream

In a saucepan, melt the butter and add brown sugar to form a creamy paste. Let this mixture caramelize over heat to approximately five minutes.

Stir in banana liqueur, bananas and rum. Heat and ignite. Agitate to keep flame burning, and add a few pinches of cinnamon to the flame. Let the flames go out and serve over vanilla ice cream.

Brown Butter Pecan Mini-Cupcakes

Makes 48 mini-muffins

These are from the Cookin’ Cajun Cooking School in New Orleans part of my annual culinary tour of the crescent city!

2 cups brown sugar, packed

2 cups pecans, chopped and toasted

1 cup all-purpose flour

1-1/3 cups unsalted butter, melted & browned

4 large eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl in order of ingredients given, blend all of the above until moistened. Divide into sprayed min-muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes at 350°F.

You must use a min-muffin pan to create perfect crust on the muffins. If you use a normal size they taste under baked. Also, you must use Pam with flour to spray the pans prior to filling. Non-stick pans do not work.