The Classic Banana Split
A banana split lengthwise around scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, topped with pineapple, strawberry and chocolate sauces, whipped cream, peanuts and cherries.
Most historians credit David "Doc" Strickler, a 23-year-old pharmacy student working the soda fountain at Tassell Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, with the banana split in 1904. Wikipedia says he was inspired by fruit sundaes he saw in Atlantic City and charged 10 cents, about twice the price of other sundaes, and that in 2004 the National Ice Cream Retailers Association certified Latrobe as the birthplace. Wilmington, Ohio, says restaurant owner Ernest Hazard invented it in 1907 to bring Wilmington College students in on slow winter days; an NPR piece in 2007 joked that Wilmington may have missed the banana boat by three years. Walgreens' Chicago-area drugstores later made the banana split a signature fountain dessert. The classic build, Wikipedia says, is a banana cut lengthwise with scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, pineapple, strawberry and chocolate sauces, whipped cream, nuts and cherries, in a long glass "boat". Latrobe holds an annual banana split festival.
🇺🇸 This one is American
A banana split lengthwise around scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, topped with pineapple, strawberry and chocolate sauces, whipped cream, peanuts and cherries.
🇮🇹 The original
Italian gelato is churned slowly from milk with less cream and less air than American ice cream, so it is denser and served a little warmer. See the Fior di Latte Gelato (Italian Milk Gelato) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Three flavors, three sauces
Each sauce is matched to one scoop, so every spoonful tastes different and nothing turns muddy.
Bananas just ripe
A fully yellow banana is sweet but firm enough to hold its shape against the cold ice cream.
Step by step
- Step 1
Strawberry sauce: simmer the strawberries with 2 tbsp of the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until juicy and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Cool.
- Step 2
Pineapple sauce: simmer the crushed pineapple and its juice with the remaining 1 tbsp sugar over medium heat until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Cool. (Both sauces can be made a day ahead and refrigerated.)
- Step 3
Chill two long dishes in the freezer for 10 minutes. Whip the cream with the powdered sugar to soft peaks, about 2 minutes.
- Step 4
Halve each banana lengthwise and lay the halves along the sides of each dish.
- Step 5
Set one scoop each of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream in a row between the banana halves.
- Step 6
Spoon 3 tbsp pineapple sauce over the vanilla, 3 tbsp chocolate over the chocolate and 3 tbsp strawberry sauce over the strawberry.
- Step 7
Top each scoop with whipped cream, scatter the peanuts over and set a cherry in the middle. Serve at once.
The Classic Banana Split
Serves 2 (one split each) · 2 banana splits · 25 min total
Quick sauces
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- 3 tbsp sugar, divided
- 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice
- 6 tbsp chocolate syrup or hot fudge (our Hot Fudge Sundae recipe)
Whipped cream
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, cold
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
Splits
- 2 ripe bananas, yellow with no green, peeled
- 2 scoops (1/2 cup each) vanilla ice cream (our Philadelphia-Style Vanilla Ice Cream recipe or 10, or store-bought)
- 2 scoops chocolate ice cream (our Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream recipe, or store-bought)
- 2 scoops strawberry ice cream
- 2 tbsp chopped roasted peanuts
- 2 maraschino cherries
Method
- Strawberry sauce: simmer the strawberries with 2 tbsp of the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until juicy and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Cool.
- Pineapple sauce: simmer the crushed pineapple and its juice with the remaining 1 tbsp sugar over medium heat until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Cool. (Both sauces can be made a day ahead and refrigerated.)
- Chill two long dishes in the freezer for 10 minutes. Whip the cream with the powdered sugar to soft peaks, about 2 minutes.
- Halve each banana lengthwise and lay the halves along the sides of each dish.
- Set one scoop each of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream in a row between the banana halves.
- Spoon 3 tbsp pineapple sauce over the vanilla, 3 tbsp chocolate over the chocolate and 3 tbsp strawberry sauce over the strawberry.
- Top each scoop with whipped cream, scatter the peanuts over and set a cherry in the middle. Serve at once.
Adapted from Nancy Baggett's "The Classic Banana Split" for NPR (June 2007): (per split: one scoop each of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, 3 to 4 tbsp each of pineapple, chocolate and strawberry sundae sauces, a ripe banana halved lengthwise, whipped cream, cherries and chopped nuts; pineapple on the vanilla, chocolate on the chocolate, strawberry on the strawberry). NPR's page timed out for our fetch tool; the recipe details come from search results quoting it, and Baggett's own sauce recipes were not seen. The quick strawberry and pineapple sauces and their times are ours; the chocolate sauce is store-bought chocolate syrup or the hot fudge from our Hot Fudge Sundae recipe. NPR. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Scoop the ice cream onto a parchment-lined sheet and refreeze 15 minutes before building; firm scoops sit up better.
- Cut the banana crosswise instead and, Baggett notes, experts call it a banana royale.
- Leftover sauces keep 3 days in the refrigerator and are good on pancakes.
- Make all three ice creams from this hub, or use good store-bought.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The banana split was invented in Latrobe in 1904. Disputed: most historians and the National Ice Cream Retailers Association (2004) favor Strickler in Latrobe, but Wilmington, Ohio, claims Ernest Hazard in 1907, and Boston, Davenport and Columbus have claims too (Wikipedia).
- Strickler ordered special boat dishes in 1904 or 1905. Disputed: the story of a glass-factory receipt is repeated, but a reporter who looked for the receipt or the dishes could not find them (search summaries).
- The original was 10 cents. Documented as Wikipedia's account; the evidence is mostly secondhand.
- Caramel belongs on a banana split. Folklore: Wikipedia calls caramel a later, non-traditional topping.
Serve it with
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Every other ice cream
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The Hot Fudge Sundae
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The Root Beer Float (Black Cow)
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Weeknight No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream
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