Banoffee Pie

February 5, 2011


Hi Banoffee Pie. Is there an airport near by or is that just my heart taking off?


Because I'm selfish and need assurance that I'm not alone on certain things, I'm hoping that there are a few other Pie lovers who had never heard of this recipe before either. If not, my head has been buried much deeper in the sand than what should ever be considered comfortable, let alone legal. This pie is downright spectacular! If Clark Kent was a humble banana pie, this would be his Superman. Even the name is awesome. It's starts out quirky, but by the end of it, you feel as though you're ready for tea.

I skipped this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for bourbon bread pudding. The poorly-planned logic behind that decision had to do with the fact that ever since I made Dorie's apple bread pudding, I've become a fan of bread puddings. I knew that if I were to make one again, I would most likely eat the entire pan (especially if it contains bourbon.) So I made a banoffee pie instead, and I'm quite that the amount of pieces that I ate left the potential amount of bread pudding consumption in the dust. For the bourbon bread pudding recipe, please visit Sharon, of the gorgeous blog Simply Southern .


It's whiskly becoming apparent that when it comes to the pastry world, the more I learn, the less I know. Desserts which I've never heard of before keep popping up, and like sugar-coated dangling carrots, I must give chase. When I saw this English pie being made by Paula Deen, I had to get my little hands on it. Basically it's sweet on top of sweet, on top of sweet...garnished with unsweetened cocoa powder. Yet despite all the 'sweetness', it's perfectly tolerable, even for lemon lovers. The base is a simple graham cracker crust, I added cinnamon to mine and discovered that it tasted like the topping they use on fried ice cream (something I've been trying to replicate for years.) A layer of dulce de leche is spread over the graham cracker crust, followed by a layer of bananas that have been cooked, banana's foster style, in rum and brown sugar. Topping off the bananas is a cloud of homemade whipped cream. The cocoa powder was totally lost among all the sugar, it was just there to make the pie look prettier for it's photo shoot. But if you're compelled to add something to this recipe that won't put you into a coma, feel free to use it...if it will make you feel better.



Banoffee Pie Print

Crust ingredients (adapted from Curtis Stone )
9 oz of graham crackers
1/2 cup (that's 1 stick) of unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Dulce de leche filling ingredients
1/2 cup of packed dark brown sugar (light is ok, the result won't be as rich though.)
1-14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup (that's 1 stick) of unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Banana's foster ingredients (adapted from Paula Deen)
1/4 cup of brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 cup of unsalted butter (that's 1 stick), cut into pieces
1/4 cup of dark rum
4 very ripe bananas, sliced into pieces which are about 1/4-inch thick

Whipped cream ingredients
1 cup of cold, heavy whipping cream
4-5 Tablespoons of confectioners sugar

Prepare the crust: Grease or spray a 9-inch spring form pan. Set it aside.
Place the graham crackers into a food processor and pulse a few times until fine crumbs form. Place the crumbs into a large bowl. Add the melted butter, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Using a spatula, or your fingers, combine the ingredients until well blended. It should resemble wet sand. If it's too wet and sticky, add slightly more ground up graham crackers.
Press the mixture into the prepared pan, covering the bottom and going about 1 1/2-inches up the sides. Place the crust in the refrigerator as you prepare the fillings.

Prepare the Dulce de leche! In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and 3 Tablespoons of water. Over a medium heat, stir until the sugar as dissolved. Add the pieces of butter and stir until melted. Slowly bring the sugar to a boil, once it starts boiling, stop stirring. Cook until it becomes a deeper amber colour (this should take about 5 minutes.) Swirl the pan occasionally to avoid any hot spots. Add the condensed milk and continue cooking until the mixture thickens (mine took about 10 minutes, but I wanted it to be extra thick.) For a 'runnier' sauce, cook for only about 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat.
Spread about 1 1/2 cups of the dulce de leche over the chilled graham cracker crust. Keep the rest in jar and refrigerate. You can spread it on toast, warm it up and pour it over ice cream, or you may even use the entire amount on the pie crust! :)
Once the crust is covered with the dulce de leche, return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the bananas.

Prepare the bananas: In a large skillet, over med-low heat, combine the brown sugar and butter. Cook until the brown sugar has dissolved. Add the sliced bananas and cook over medium heat until both sides have caramelized. Remove the pan from the heat and add the rum.
This is where you get to feel chefy! Carefully, using a long-lighter or the gas from the stove, stand back a bit and light the bananas. The flame may shoot up very high, so don't have your head over the skillet. Allow the flame to die out on it's own. Let the bananas sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
Remove the pan from the fridge. Arrange the bananas into an even layer on top of the dulce de leche. Return the pan to the refrigerator and chill for at least 40 minutes.

Prepare the whipped cream: Pour the heavy cream into a large mixing bowl. Starting on low and gradually increasing to high, beat the cream until is just begins to thicken. Add the confectioners sugar. Continue to beat until peaks form. Be careful not to over beat the cream. It should be silky and spreadable.
Spread the whipped cream over the layer of bananas.
Chill until ready to serve. If desired, garnish with some sifted cocoa powder.

Makes about 8 servings.

21 comments:

  1. Is there room in that sand box?
    I admit to never having heard about this pie either.
    I'm sure glad I was curious enough to take a peek at your post and what a pleasant surprise it was.

    This pie is a serious contender for my pie repertoire ;o)

    Flavourful wishes,
    Claudia

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  2. I love all the photos with this post, and the way you've arranged them. I've never made banoffee pie, though I enjoyed it a bit too much when I was in the UK. Yours looks delicious!

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  3. OMG, it looks so droolworthy! A terrific pie.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  4. I've never tried banoffee pie, but I can certainly see it's appeal. Great choice of recipe!

    Ps. I like the cocoa dusting too

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  5. It's new to me as well, and I'm glad you have introduced it to me, because it sounds oh so good!!

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  6. I've heard of Banoffee pie, but never tried it. Each layer sounds so delicious that I can't imagine the final product wouldn't be amazing!

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  7. That's such a beautiful post. I hadn't heard of Banoffee pie either, so there must be two of us buried in the sand.
    Your comments about the bread pudding intrigued me. I don't know what I have against bread pudding. Bread and dessert are two of my favorite things, but it always seemed kind of weird to mix them. With your glowing review, I'll put apple bread pudding on my list to try!

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  8. I have never heard of this pie before but it looks incredible. The flavor mix...it calls to me.

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  9. What a creation! Your pie is a stunner. I have made this pie once and didn't care for it. Your recipe is far superior to the one I used, so I'll have to try this again. I hope you have a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  10. Oh Val! How have you not heard of banoffee? It's one of my favorite pies. I even posted it :(

    Never made it with cooked bananas though.

    Oh I love your new design, did you do it yourself?

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  11. Hi Avanika, Hope you're back to 100%, it's great to see you up and about again! I confess that I sometimes pay more attention to the delicious photos than the names of what they are. ^-^ Perhaps you planted the banoffee pie into my head and seeing Paula Deen just lit the spark. :D

    The design is by Shay, of Dumplin Design Studios. :-)

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  12. Is it possible to make this without using rum with the bananas? I'd prefer to make it without any alcohol at all-any suggestions?

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  13. Hi Anon,
    I'm sure this would be great even without the rum. Just cook the bananas as instructed and maybe add about 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract instead of rum. You won't get the cool flaming effects, but it should still be delicious (and safer.) :-)

    I hope that helps. Thanks for visiting!

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  14. I have never heard of cooked banana in a banoffee pie - must try it - not until I have lost some weight though .... I like you am unable to leave it at just one slice!!

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  15. Oh my Gosh! This looks unbelievable, Valerie. I can't describe in words what your photos just did to my empty stomach (smile but seriously). I want a piece now...!
    p.s. I love that photo with the pretty dark brown table. Is that your table? I've been looking on Craig's List hoping to find a rustic looking table like that. Very nice!

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  16. Banoffe Pie is intensely popular in western Europe. I first had it in Ireland. Apparently the recipe started in a restaurant in Essex.
    Here's a cool trick that all the UK crowd uses .
    you can save yourself a step by boiling a can on sweetened condensed milk to make the toffee. honestly,It's like magic.
    here's what you do.
    take a large deep pot. put a can of sweetened condensed milk in ( one will make enough,but I did two to have it on hand).
    make sure the can is completely covered in water at all times! bring to a boil,keep it there for 2.5 hrs.
    keep checking on it often to make sure it's covered in water.
    after two hours+ your sweetened condensed milk will be magically transformed into Toffee!
    * very important! let the can completely cool before opening. I let mine cool overnight.
    trust me,the results are amazing!

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  17. Anon: Thank you for the info. and the helpful tip! The more ways I hear of preparing sweet milk, the harder it gets to resist the temptation of eating it straight from the can. (Cooked or not.) :D

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  18. I tried this recipe yesterday, and it was beyond delicious!!
    Just one thing, when I was making the toffee, I noticed you didn't mention what to do with the butter, so I added it at the end and it was great!

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  19. @Mariella: Oops! Sorry I forgot to mention when to add the butter!! It actually should have been added along with the sugar, but it sounds like your method works too. :D

    Thanks for letting me know!

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  20. you arent actually supposed to cook the bananas in banoffee pie. did paula deen say to do that? they are just layered but still looks delish.

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  21. @Kelly: Paul's version does call for cooking the bananas. I didn't know true banoffee pie does not require cooking bananas...now I have an excuse to bake it again. :D

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Thanks for visiting, and for taking the time to read through my ramblings!
If you have a recipe comment or question, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy Baking!
♥ Valerie

 

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