National Banana Split Day recognizes the sweet ice cream treat served with a banana, whipped cream, and various toppings.
Originally served in drug stores, soda fountains and ice cream parlors, the banana split is traditionally served in a long dish called a boat. Never had one or never made one?
This is how you do it… cut the banana lengthwise and place it in the dish. Then add scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream between the slices of banana. Each scoop gets a topping; add crushed pineapple to the strawberry, drizzle chocolate syrup over the vanilla, and add strawberry topping to the chocolate. Next, sprinkle with crushed nuts. Finally, garnish with whipped cream and maraschino cherries.
So who invented the Banana Split?
A 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist at Tassel’s Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania created the first banana split in 1904. David Evans Strickler enjoyed inventing sundaes at the store’s soda fountain. For only 10 cents, Strickler sold his first “banana-based triple ice cream sundae,” double the cost of all the other sundaes.
So there you have it… the Banana Split… It’s Positively Delicious!