Banana Rum Shuttles

Hello, everybody! I have a delicious dessert I first learned how to cook a few weeks before my15th birthday (just a baby!) in France. La voila, Banana Rum Shuttles! Of course, over there they called them "tartes bananes" and they didn't have the little arrow-head end that looks like a loom shuttle. But the recipe I found that was the closest was this "shuttle" version and I thought it was really pretty so... I guess my tartes bananes sont "shuttles" now!

 So, you'll need:
3 bananas
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 tbs rum (or more, depending on what kind of day you've had)
puff pastry, frozen or home made (I've tried to make it many times... I just can't. So, I resolved to stop wasting time on the impossible and buy the frozen stuff.)
1 egg white for glaze

 Cut the bananas length-wise. No reason for this except it's easier to dip them in the rum.

 You can't see the rum, but it's there. Really.

 Mix the sugar, cloves, cinnamon. Roll the rum bananas in the sugar. Lick fingers after ever piece.

 You should end up with bananas coated with sugar and spices and rum. Taste test a few to make sure everything is going well at this point.

 Defrosted pastry. Looks bad. Will taste good.

 Put the banana mix on the puff pastry. Sample a few more pieces that fall off the side. Lick fingers again.

 Seal the sides with the fork, cut the ends at an angle and seal.

 Slice the top for vents. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425F. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Take them out, brsh with egg whites, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.
                                     

 I served these on plates I picked up in Poland when I attended the Warsaw School of Economics after I graduated from college. It was a little odd to serve something from my years in France on plates I bought ten years later during a sojourn in a completely different country. Then my five year old picked one up and proclaimed it "delicioso" and just like his abuelita's empanadas.  I had to smile at the intersection (collision?) of all these cultures in a small Oregon town.

Wishing you joy in the journey, wherever you are and wherever you're going! Until next time...