This Unlikely Ingredient Will Take Your Banana Split To The Next Level

A banana split sundae is one of those classic, distinctly American desserts that's packed full of ingredients like ice cream and chocolate sauce, making it delicious and decadent. As good as it is, though, all that sweetness can get excessive, turning your yummy sundae into a cloying bowl that feels like you're eating pure sugar. Fortunately, one simple ingredient can balance out all that sweetness and take your banana split to the next level: sea salt.

Salt is a great complement for sweet foods, which makes it the perfect — if unexpected — ingredient for your banana split. It's long been used to enhance the complexity of sweet foods; you only need to look at salted caramel, an incredibly popular classic treat that's been around for ages, to see that. Scientific research even suggests that salt can boost your body's perception of glucose (via Acta Physiologica). Sea salt is often considered the best kind to use with desserts thanks to its unique natural flavor compared to other types, like kosher salt.

When deploying salt on a banana split, use just a sprinkle. You can always add more if you feel that dessert could benefit from it, but it's much more difficult (really, almost impossible) to remove the salt. Furthermore, don't mix salt into the chocolate sauce or another single ingredient, or else it could become unpleasantly concentrated in one area. Sprinkle it evenly over the finished dessert instead so that every ingredient can benefit from the addition of a bit of sodium.

When you use salt in your banana split, there are a couple of things to keep in mind to ensure it comes out at its most delicious. Firstly, don't add too many sweet ingredients, like extra scoops of ice cream or gelato (yes, there are key differences between the two). There's only so much the salt can balance out, and adding more to try and compensate can result in a sundae that's both too sweet and too salty.

Also, thoughtfully use full-flavored ingredients that complement the salt and help create a more complex flavor profile. Salt and caramel is a wonderful pairing that can make your banana split into a rich, complex dessert. Salt and chocolate is another classic, delicious team-up, so remember to stock up on a good-quality chocolate sauce while you're shopping for ingredients. Finally, salt goes very well with many types of fruit, especially bitter or astringent ones like cranberries and grapefruit. To that end, don't be afraid to add some bitterness to your sundae alongside the salt to help bring out the best of both flavors.