Denver Students Create World’s Heaviest Vegan Banana Split

In late February, 7 JWU Denver culinary nutrition students, under the guidance of Chef Adam Sacks, created and built the World’s Heaviest Vegan Banana Split, a record that will be submitted for an entry in Guinness World Records.

The final weigh in came in at 1,204 pounds — over a half ton of toppings and student-made vegan ice cream in such flavors as piña colada, Turkish coffee, mango ginger, and sweet corn and jalapeño.

“This is what makes Culinary Nutrition students unique — they are able to take a traditional concept, modify it, and create something healthier without a sensory sacrifice,” said Chef Sacks. “Most importantly, this is something we wanted to share with the community.”

The Denver community was invited take part — from putting the cherries on top to tasting the finished sundae.

This end-of-term class project is part of JWU Denver’s vegetarian cuisine course, where curriculum is focused on the daily production and preparation of nutritionally balanced vegetarian diets within 3 classifications: vegan, lacto, and lacto-ovo vegetarian diets.

In addition to preparing vegetarian dishes, students explore the importance of why people choose vegetarian diets including cultural and global perspectives, economics and health.

Banana Split by the Numbers:

• 738.25 pounds assorted made from scratch vegan ice cream
• Flavors included: chocolate mole, Turkish coffee, blueberry balsamic, pumpkin chai, sweet corn & jalapeño, strawberry basil, coconut mojo
• Approximately 137 lbs of cooked beans used to prepare the ice cream
• 202.4 pounds peeled bananas
• 262.29 pounds assorted vegan toppings (blueberries, strawberries, assorted nuts, granola, brownies, cookies, shredded coconut, cherries)
• 32.8 pounds vegan whipped cream
• 15.26 pounds vegan chocolate letters to spell JWU