Make this one out of love for the name of the dessert, if not the banana-toffee combination 🙂
“Q. Ever wondered where the phrase “to go bananas” came from?The Fact: Banoffee Pie was invented in 1972 at the Hungry Monk restaurant in England. It is rumored to be Mrs Thatcher’s favourite pudding. The Inspiration: It was 10pm on the 11th of August, the eve of my birthday. As weird as it sounds, I love baking my own birthday cake, but this time, I wanted something different… “Why not some pie?”… thought I (rhyme attempt alert!).
A. Why try when banana pancakes, choco-banana cakes, banana splits, and banoffee pies are all capable of driving you crazy?”
The Ingredients
Makes 12 – 15 servings The Base- 100 g melted butter
- 250 g digestive biscuits; crushed (wrap up the biscuits in a soft cloth and beat it up any way you like; it can be a lot of fun)
The Toffee Filling
- 100 g butter
- 100 g Demerera sugar or any other soft brown sugar (avoid the regular white sugar because it makes the dessert too sweet)
- 400 g condensed milk (sweetened)
The Topping
- 6 – 8 ripe, but firm bananas (make sure that the bananas are sweet or the topping ends up being quite tasteless)
- 250 g whipping cream
The Method
- Take a 9-inch, loose-bottomed pie pan/tart pan and tip the crushed biscuits into it.
- Add the melted butter to the crushed biscuits and mix well. Using the back of a spoon,  press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, firmly, to form the pie shell. Chill in the refrigerator until the filling is ready.
- Place a frying pan or a skillet on the fire, on medium heat. Add the brown sugar to the pan. As the sugar starts to melt, add the butter.
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- Stir together lightly and then leave undisturbed till the sides begin to melt. Nudge the edges from time to time, but avoid disturbing the melting process. Remember that you want the lovely burnt caramel colour and aroma; don’t worry about burning the sugar too far as long as the stove is on medium heat and not on high. The colour of the toffee depends on the colour of the caramel.Â
- When the sugar has completely melted, add the condensed milk and bring the mixture to a boil on medium heat, stirring continuously. Turn off the heat as soon as the now-formed toffee takes on the right colour.
- Pour the toffee into the biscuit base and leave undisturbed to cool. Move to the refrigerator and leave until the toffee becomes firm. This should take a few hours if the toffee has been cooled sufficiently before refrigerating.
- After the toffee is firm, slice the bananas and place them over the toffee layer. Avoid slicing the bananas too much in advance because they’ll turn black due to oxidation, and won’t make a pretty plate.
- Quickly whip up the cream and place it over the bananas. You can add your layers in any way you like it and can vary the thickness of each layer too.
- Chill the dessert before serving it, if not, it makes the servings difficult and messy to cut through.
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Eat away. Bon appétit! 🙂