Crisp autumn air, leaves turning vibrant shades of red, orange and yellow, and decorative gourds as far as the eye can see — it’s pumpkin spice season, y’all.

At its core, pumpkin spice — or pumpkin pie spice — is a blend of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove and allspice.

“I love pumpkin spice,” ICE New York’s Lead Recreational Chef-Instructor Roger Sitrin says. “It smells like fall, and the fall season gives me a great sense of nostalgia.”

Chef Roger uses it in everything from pumpkin pie or streusel to cookies, and uses it to give the classic bananas Foster an autumnal flair.

Hailing from the Vieux Carré restaurant and the esteemed Brennan family in New Orleans, the classic bananas Foster is a dessert composed of cooking bananas in a sauce of butter, brown sugar and rum that's flambéed table side and served over ice cream.

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In his recipe, Chef Roger adds pumpkin spice to the rum sauce and spoons it over french crêpes that are also laced with — you guessed it — pumpkin spice.

Here’s how to make it at home.

Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Spice Mix:

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1½ teaspoons ground allspice
1½ teaspoons ground cloves

For the Crêpe batter:

1 cups flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin spice mix
½ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1½ cups milk
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons clarified butter or oil for pan

For Assembly:

(Yield: 4 servings)

2 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 bananas, peeled, halved lengthwise and crosswise
1 tablespoon pumpkin spice mix
2 ounces dark rum (80- to 90-proof)

Directions

For the Pumpkin Spice Mix: 

Combine spices in a small bowl and mix well. Store in a small jar or spice container.

For the Crêpe batter:

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin spice mix and salt. In another medium bowl, combine the eggs and milk and whisk together until well-blended. Make a well in the center of the flour. Slowly add the milk and egg mixture to the flour, whisking constantly, incorporating the flour gradually until a smooth batter is formed. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes to allow the batter to relax.
Remove from the refrigerator. Right before making the crêpes, stir in the melted butter.
Add 1 tablespoon of the clarified butter to a crêpe pan. Swirl around the pan to coat the bottom and the sides. Pour the excess butter back into the bowl with the remaining tablespoon butter. Heat the pan over moderately high heat. When hot, add a 2-ounce ladleful of batter to the pan. Quickly swirl the batter in the pan to form a thin round pancake. Cook until lightly golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes, turn crêpe and repeat. Remove the crêpe to a baking sheet and let cool. Repeat the procedure until all the batter is used.

For Assembly:

Melt butter and sugar in a large sauté pan. Add banana pieces and sauté over medium heat until lightly browned. Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice. Remove pan from heat.  
Add the rum to the pan off of the heat. To flambé, carefully ignite the warm sauce with a long handled lighter. Allow flames to burn out. 
To serve, place crêpes on plate and top with bananas. Spoon sauce over crêpes and serve warm.

Need more fall sweets? Make Pumpkin Spice Latte Crispy Rice Treats

Abbe Lewis

Abbe Lewis is a writer, editor, Emmy nominee and extreme nacho enthusiast with over a decade of experience in food and beverage media. Always on the move, Abbe can be found running long distances on the weekends to new restaurants or her favorite hangouts.