I blame it on being nicknamed ‘Anna Banana’ as a little girl, but I am notoriously obsessed with all things banana. (I honestly can’t remember the last day I went without one). So, when I spotted this specialty frozen banana dessert stand, Bananarchy, in a food truck lot near my Airbnb in Austin, I knew it would become a nightly ritual.

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The owner Laura Anderson, appropriately outfitted in a yellow tank top with a plastic spoon nestled between her forehead and a thick, yellow sweatband, greeted me with no more enthusiasm than you would expect from any server on a Texan summer night. I asked her what sparked her brilliant business idea, “I was inspired by that banana stand in Arrested Development,” she said, so nonchalantly that she could easily be the show’s next cast member herself. Well, what may have innocently started as a play on a TV joke has turned into a local hotspot. To have survived nine years in one of the country’s most food truck populated cities speaks to Laura’s ability to offer a consistently delicious dessert. My week-long Bananarchy sample size proved this to be true. 

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Some foods seem destined to serve as a canvas on which to build a sensory masterpiece. I would argue of all the fruits in the world, the banana is just that. Despite being high in sugar, the soft flesh and gentle feel on the tongue lends itself to a deceivingly mild sweetness, begging to be elevated with evocative textures and more assertive flavors. Step one: pick a ‘halfsie’ or a ‘whole’. Step two: choose your hard-shell coating; chocolate (vegan or dairy), peanut butter, or vanilla. Step three: load on the toppings for that extra crunch. Conservative dessert-goers may opt for the cinnamon, coconut, or nuts while those embracing their inner-child can choose from toffee, cookies, M&M’s, and Reese’s Pieces.

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On a typical Austin summer night, it doesn’t take long before the exterior crunchy concoction that envelopes the banana begins to soften, but that’s okay. When too cold, the banana’s crunchy components necessitate each taken as a single bite, missing the point entirely. The slow melt affords the mouth the chance to experience the melding of all the flavors involved in each bite.

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My favorite creation of the week was combining a peanut butter and chocolate exterior with toffee and peanuts as my toppings. I could have gone to town on candy and chocolate, but doing so would risk undermining the real star of the show: the banana. The salty crunch of the peanuts, the chocolate’s velvety richness, and that sugary bite of the toffee were the perfect additions to elevate, rather than suffocate, the understated qualities of this humble fruit.