Colombian Banana Split: Two Scoops, Not Three

Name: Colombian Banana Split
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 banana (ripe but still firm; a soft one collapses when you slice it); 1 scoop vanilla ice cream; 1 scoop strawberry ice cream; Strawberry syrup or sauce; Chocolate syrup or sauce; ½ cup heavy cream (for the whipped cream; this much makes enough for three or four splits); 1 tablespoon powdered sugar; ½ teaspoon vanilla extract; Sprinkles; 1 wafer biscuit (the rolled or fan-shaped kind that stands up in the ice cream)

The Colombian ice cream parlour version: a banana split lengthwise with two scoops instead of the American three, homemade whipped cream, chocolate and strawberry sauce, sprinkles and a wafer. Ten minutes and nothing to cook. Makes one.

Total: 10

JUMP TO RECIPE

A banana split as it is served in Colombian ice cream parlours: the banana cut in half lengthwise, two scoops between the halves, whipped cream over the top, chocolate and strawberry sauce, sprinkles, and a wafer standing up in it.

Two scoops, not three. That is the difference from the American original, and it is worth knowing where the original came from before deciding which one you want to make.

Where the banana split comes from

Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in 1904. David Strickler was a twenty-three-year-old pharmacy student working the soda fountain at a drugstore, and bananas had recently become cheap and widely available in the United States for the first time.

He split one lengthwise, wedged three scoops between the halves, poured over chocolate, strawberry and pineapple sauce, added peanuts, whipped cream and a maraschino cherry, and even designed the long boat-shaped dish to serve it in. Latrobe was formally recognised as its birthplace in 2004, and there is a historical marker where the pharmacy stood.

So it is not a Colombian dessert, and this page is not going to pretend otherwise. What is Colombian is the version that ended up on ice cream parlour menus there.

What Colombia does differently

Two scoops instead of three. Vanilla and strawberry, usually. The American original is vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, one under each sauce.
Two sauces instead of three. Chocolate and strawberry. Pineapple sauce, which is in the 1904 original, is not part of it.
Sprinkles and a wafer rather than peanuts and a maraschino cherry.

The result is lighter and sweeter, with less going on. Whether that is an improvement depends on how you feel about peanuts in a dessert.

Whip your own cream

Five minutes with a mixer, and it is the single biggest difference between this and a disappointing banana split.

Aerosol cream is mostly air held together by propellant, and it collapses within a minute of touching cold ice cream, which is exactly when you are trying to photograph it or eat it. Cream whipped properly holds its shape.

Stop when it holds a soft peak and no further. Cream taken past that point turns grainy and then splits into butter and buttermilk, and there is no going back from either.

Half a cup of cream makes enough for three or four splits, which is one reason to make several at once.

The banana matters more than you think

Ripe but firm. Yellow skin, a few brown freckles at most, and no soft spots.

A very ripe banana is sweeter and it is also structurally useless here: split lengthwise it sags, breaks in the middle and cannot hold a scoop of ice cream against it. The two halves have to stand up like the sides of a boat, which is the whole architecture of the dessert.

Cut it with a small sharp knife in one movement rather than sawing, and lay the halves cut side up.

Assemble last, serve immediately

This is the only real difficulty with a banana split, and it is a matter of order rather than skill. Ice cream against banana at room temperature starts melting straight away, and a split that sat on the counter for three minutes arrives as a puddle.

Everything except the banana can be ready in advance. Whip the cream, open the sauces, put the sprinkles within reach, and leave the dish in the freezer for ten minutes so it is cold when the ice cream lands on it.

Then slice, scoop, cover, drizzle, scatter, and take it to the table. The whole assembly should take under a minute.

Making it more Colombian

If you want to push it further in that direction, swap one scoop for arequipe ice cream, which is dulce de leche and is sold in most Latin groceries. A drizzle of arequipe instead of the chocolate sauce does the same job.

Keep one scoop plain, though. With two sweet caramel elements and two sauces there is nothing for the sweetness to play against, and the whole thing flattens out.

Other Colombian desserts

Colombian fruit salad — the one with cream, condensed milk, ice cream and grated cheese on top.
Arequipe — make your own dulce de leche for the version above.
Cholado — shaved ice, fruit and condensed milk, from Cali.

Colombian Banana Split FAQ

What makes a Colombian banana split different?

It is shorter. The American original has three scoops, three sauces, peanuts and a maraschino cherry. What ice cream parlours in Colombia serve is two scoops, vanilla and strawberry, with chocolate and strawberry sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles and a wafer standing in the top. Same idea, less on the dish.

Who invented the banana split?

David Strickler, in 1904, at a pharmacy soda fountain in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He was a 23-year-old pharmacy student, he split the banana lengthwise, wedged in three scoops, and even designed the boat-shaped dish. Latrobe was recognised as its birthplace in 2004 and has a historical marker on the site.

Do I have to make the whipped cream?

No, but it takes five minutes and it is noticeably better than the aerosol kind, which collapses within a minute of hitting cold ice cream. Half a cup of cream with a tablespoon of powdered sugar and a little vanilla whips up to enough for three or four splits.

What banana should I use?

Ripe but still firm, with the skin yellow and maybe a few brown freckles but no soft patches. A very ripe banana tastes sweeter but falls apart the moment you slice it lengthwise, and the halves need to hold their shape to sit either side of the ice cream.

How do I stop it turning into soup?

Assemble it last and serve it immediately. Everything except the banana can be ready in advance: whip the cream, have the sauces open, chill the dish in the freezer for ten minutes. Then slice, scoop, decorate and carry it to the table. A banana split does not wait.

Can I change the ice cream flavours?

Yes, and Colombian parlours do. Vanilla and strawberry is the standard pairing here, chocolate is the obvious third if you want the American version, and arequipe ice cream makes it properly local. The only rule worth keeping is that one of them should be plain, or the sauces have nothing to play against.