Banoffee Pie

Banoffee Pie… Until yesterday I really didn’t like it and I probably still wouldn’t order it in a restaurant, but I made one yesterday and (with the cream scraped off) it was really nice!

We had my parents and brother over for lunch yesterday. My boyfriend cooked an amazing spread; lemon chicken, beef in black bean, hot and sour chicken etc. It was delicious and I did dessert! I made banoffee pie for Dad, brother and boyfriend and a creme brulée for my mum (recipe to come soon!) as she doesn’t like banoffee pie.

It was lovely and relaxed, we were watching the Olympics, more specifically the tennis and we watched Andy Murray win Gold in the singles 🙂

As I’ve fairly recently moved and haven’t managed to get all my post coming here yet they also brought my car insurance renewal. Does anybody else think the price of car insurance is an absolute joke?! My renewal was almost DOUBLE what I paid last year! It really does not pay to be loyal when it comes to car insurance! My dad told me that before I passed and now I always find the cheapest price. My cheapest quote was £364, less than I paid last year and half my renewal! I also don’t agree with the fact my current insurers phoned me the other day and tried to pressure me into renewing there and then even though I hadn’t read the letter. I was just like “no, I’ll read the letter myself thanks and get back to you!”

Well, I’ll definitely be ringing them… but it will be to tell them to bugger off unless they can beat my quote! I do believe in loyalty with certain things though and good customer service is often priceless. There’s a garage I take my car to, my parents have gone there for years and now I take my car there and I honestly wouldn’t take it anywhere else, even though I now have to drive 90 miles to get there, I wouldn’t trust anyone else with my car!

Back to the recipe, it’s really easy to make and involves no baking, you just need a saucepan to melt stuff!

You will need:

> 23cm pie dish (preferably loose bottomed, makes life a lot easier!)
> Either a rolling pin or food processor to crush the digestives
> Spatula to smooth the cream layer

Print

Makes 1 23cm pie, serves 10-12

Recipe from Step-by-Step Baking

Ingredients:

For the biscuit layer:

> 250g digestive biscuits
> 100g butter + extra to grease

For the caramel:

> 50g butter
> 50g soft brown sugar
> 400g can of condensed milk

For the topping:

> 2 large, ripe bananas – I used 2 1/2 as my boyfriend said one layer of banana wasn’t enough and my bananas weren’t huge)
> 300ml double cream, whipped (original recipe called for 250ml, I tried this and it wasn’t enough)
> some dark chocolate to garnish

Method:

> Grease your pie tin with butter.
> Place the biscuits in your food processor and blitz until they resemble fine crumbs. Alternatively you can place them in a large ziploc bag and then smash them with a rolling pin. A good stress buster!
> Place the butter in a small saucepan and place on a low heat until all the butter has melted.
> Pour the biscuit crumbs into the melted butter.
> Stir until everything is well coated.
> Tip the biscuit into your pie tin.
> Push the biscuit all around the pie tin with a wooden spoon or your hands, I find hands better as you can get into every nook and cranny. Make sure you have a smooth, level finish. Place in the fridge whilst you make the caramel.

> Place the butter and sugar in a small saucepan over a medium heat.
> Once everything is melted add in the condensed milk.
> Stir continuously and bring to the boil. Then turn the heat down and simmer for 2-3 minutes. The caramel will thicken and become a pale brown colour.
> Take the biscuit base out of the fridge and then pour the caramel over the top. Smooth over and make sure the layer is level and covers the base.

> Leave to cool for about 30 minutes on the side and then place it in the fridge for a further 30 minutes until the caramel is set.
> Slice the bananas thinly and at an angle for decorations sake 🙂
> Place 2 layers of banana all over the caramel layer. Reserve 8 slices of banana for garnish (optional).

> Place the double cream in a bowl and whisk until it holds soft peaks. You’re meant to be able to turn it upside down & have it not fall out, but I wouldn’t be brave enough!!
> Cover the pie with cream, using a spatula to smooth it over. To make it as smooth as possible I dip my spatula in warm water and then glide it over the cream.
> Now to finish it off 🙂 I placed 8 slices of banana around the edge and then grated some dark chocolate over the entire pie. You can either serve immediately or place back in the fridge. Take out of fridge about an hour before serving otherwise the caramel will be too hard!