Bananas with Dark Chocolate & Tahini

Why it works

Slitting the banana lengthways and leaving the skin on turns the fruit into its own cooking vessel: the peel steams it soft while the exposed top dries and darkens. Tahini is bitter enough to cut across that sweetness, and loosening it with warm water rather than cream keeps it pourable on hot fruit.

Method

Heat the air fryer to 190°C (375°F). Cut a deep slit along each banana, stopping short of both ends and of the skin beneath, then press the sides apart.
Push the chocolate into the channel, dust with cinnamon and a pinch of salt, and sit the bananas in the basket skin side down in one layer.
Air fry for 6 minutes. They are ready when the skins have gone black and split, the chocolate has slumped into a glossy seam, and the flesh at the edge is bubbling.
Meanwhile, whisk the tahini, honey and lemon juice in a mug, then beat in the warm water a spoonful at a time until it ribbons off the spoon. It seizes and goes pale first; keep going.
Lift the bananas onto four plates, still in their skins, pour the tahini over the hot chocolate and scatter with sesame and salt. Eat with a teaspoon from the skin.

For the toddler

Cook one banana with no chocolate in the slit, then let it stand a few minutes, as the fruit holds its heat. The tahini sauce carries honey, which is not for a baby under one year old; loosen a spoonful of plain tahini with yoghurt or milk instead, since thick tahini is hard work in a small mouth and a roasted banana is sweet enough. Scoop the flesh out and cut it into short pieces.

How the toddler notes work

Chef’s notes

Swap

Plantain, cut into 2 cm (¾ in) rounds and turned in oil, takes 10 minutes and comes out firmer and less sweet.

Make it faster

Drop the sauce and finish with thick yoghurt and a squeeze of lemon. Two minutes saved, one mug fewer.

On the side

Mint tea, or a small cup of cardamom coffee.

Leftovers

Best within the hour, while the chocolate is soft. Mash survivors cold into porridge the next morning.