Grilled-Banana Split With Chocolate Toffee Melt

Prepare a medium grill.

Meanwhile, combine sugar and half-and-half in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring occasionally. Stir in butter; remove from the heat.

Just before grilling, slice the bananas, still in their skins, lengthwise.

Transfer bananas, cut-side down, to a well-oiled grate. Grill, covered or uncovered, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn bananas skin-side down, brush cut surfaces with a few teaspoons of half-and-half mixture, and grill 2 to 3 minutes longer, until soft and lightly colored.

Remove bananas from skins. If you have long banana-split dishes, leave banana halves whole; place two halves in each dish. If not, cut bananas into bite-size chunks and divide among dishes.

Return half-and-half mixture to medium-low heat; stir in toffee chunks. Cook briefly, until chocolate and toffee have partly melted (leaving some chunkiness); stir well.

Top each dish of bananas with 2 or 3 scoops ice cream and some of the chocolate-toffee melt. Add whipped cream and almonds; serve immediately.

This recipe yields 6 generous servings.