I’m so happy to introduce you to a new contributor to Lars. Sarah Coates from The Sugar Hit, based out of Brisbane, Australia, will be sharing a new monthly column on the blog called Sweet Spot and as one who has a major sweet I’m both excited and worried about my soon to be growing waistline. She has a cookbook coming out in the fall and it’s now on pre-order!
There is nothing I love more than working with people who inspire me, and who know how to have fun. That’s why I’m so excited to be here contributing to The House That Lars Built. Brittany’s eye for colour and design is a major inspiration to me. Getting to bounce ideas and work around with inspiring creative people is what makes it not feel like work at all – it just feels like play.
And that’s the idea behind this sundae – Monkey Business! Nobody plays around better than our primate friends. So I wanted to do something that had a really fun mix of hot and cold, soft and crunchy textures, sweet things and salty things. From there, I couldn’t help but get a little more literal. So this sundae turned into what I imagine would be Curious George’s dream dessert.
Get the full recipe below!
The Monkey Business Sundae |Sweet Spot
Fresh banana, vanilla ice cream, pretzels, and macadamia nuts make up the bulk of the plate, but the thing that ties it all together, the proverbial cherry on the top, is the sauce. It’s a Salted Peanut Butter Caramel. *shocked face emoji* This sauce is something that will definitely be reappearing in my kitchen. The smooth, bitter caramel works incredibly well with salty, creamy peanut butter. And once the sauce is made, it can be easily stashed in the fridge and re-heated when you need it. So really, this crazily decadent dessert is more of an assembly job than anything else – perfect for entertaining.
If you’re not just going to serve this sundae as a stand-alone, middle of the afternoon, sugar bonanza (which, let’s be honest, would be pretty darn fun) then I think this would be the perfect thing to end an easy Summer barbecue. Arrange all the elements on the table, and then give everyone a bowl of ice cream and let them assemble their own. If you’re going down that route, though, you might want to make a double batch of caramel – when people have control of their own bowl, it goes awfully quickly. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Click below for full recipe!