The Savannah Bananas are in Cincinnati this weekend, June 19 to 21, and Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse is celebrating accordingly.
The restaurant announced this week that its menu, for a limited time, includes a dessert inspired by Banana Ball. For $16, customers can dig into a Banana Tall Cake, a play on the name of the famous strawberry shortcake.
The treat is a banana pudding cake with banana cream cheese frosting, chocolate ganache, whipped cream and, most shockingly, Banana Runts. (Yes, that candy we used to eat as kids.) Jeff Ruby’s crew ordered a bunch of them off Amazon for the occasion.
“What the (Savannah Bananas) do, it meshes with who we are in the guest experience and this larger-than-life persona,” said culinary director Nick Ellison, adding that the Savannah Bananas visited Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse when they played in the Queen City last summer.
“The whole city buzzes when they’re here,” he added. “With us being in downtown Cincinnati and close to the stadium, we know we’ll have a lot of guests here that are going to the game. Having this dessert to start them off on their night is why we wanted to do this.”
Once a photo of the treat hit our timelines this week, a couple of us at The Enquirer had to get to Ruby’s Fountain Square restaurant to try it.
It didn’t dissappoint. While the cake had the signature banana pudding flavor, it didn’t have the texture associated with it, which is a major reason why I don’t typically eat banana pudding.
The banana flavor was strong, as it should be for a dessert like this, but not overwhelming. And the cream cheese icing pulled everything together. Adding the crunchy Runts every couple bites was also a fun, nostalgic addition.
You can see our full reaction to the cake in the video at the top of the page.
Jeff Ruby’s Banana Tall Cake is only available at the Fountain Square restaurant this weekend while the Bananas are in town.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Savannah Bananas cake with Banana Runts? We ate Jeff Ruby’s new treat
Reporting by David Wysong, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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By David Wysong, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
