Plantains just get riper and riper, sweeter and sweeter, until they rot. They should be good and black for this dish, which is great served with vanilla ice cream.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　2 large plantains

　　1/4 cup brown sugar

　　Pinch of ground allspice

　　1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

　　2 tablespoons butter

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Don’t peel the plantains, but cut off their ends, then split them in half the long way. Make a few gashes in their flesh. Mix together the sugar, allspice, and cinnamon and push into those gashes. Dot with butter, pushing some of the butter into the slits as well.

　　

Step 2

Put the plantains in a baking dish that will hold them comfortably. Bake until the tops are bubbly, about 20 minutes; you can run them under the broiler if you’d like, to brown them a bit. Let cool a little before serving.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.