Baked Chocolate Soup

Ingredients

• 8 ounces "couverture"--semisweet chocolate at room temperature
• 3 cups milk brought to just under a boil
• 6 fully ripe bananas (freckled but not mushy)
• 1 teaspoon fragrant ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dark rum
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar

Instructions

1. 1
   Melting Chocolate: Cut chocolate into flakes 1/4 inch thick. Put chocolate into a bowl and pour hot milk over it. Blend until smooth.
2. 2
   Preparing Bananas: Peel and quarter bananas lengthwise. Cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. Transfer to a bowl, toss with cinnamon, and then pour in rum. Set a heavy 10-inch frying pan over high heat; pour in sugar and cook until caramel brown. Swirl in butter. When melted, scrape in bananas and rum. Sauté, turning bananas gently with wooden spoon, until softened and caramelized. If necessary, add a few drops of rum to melt caramel.
3. 3
   Filling Tureen: Spread bananas evenly on bottom of soup tureen, and spoon chocolate over bananas to cover by 1/4 inch, leaving 1/4 to rim of container. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
4. 4
   Decorating: When ready to serve, preheat oven to 350 F and place rack in middle level. Place tureen in a baking pan and pour boiling water around it. Whip egg whites until they begin to foam; continue whipping and gradually sift in half of sugar. When whites form stiff peaks, fold in remaining sugar. Scrape into piping bag and swirl 1 1/2 inches of meringue on the top of each dessert. Remove tureen from water bath, set on baking sheet and place on middle rack. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until meringue is light brown. Serve warm.