AMAZING Jason exclaimed, eyes wide the other night after he had a bite of this pie. He was so excited! And today I got a text from him asking for the recipe because “that was so insanely good and I want to try to make it for Thanksgiving.” So…I figured many of you may be interested in this recipe for the holidays, because yes, so so so good, a little different and although there are a few steps to this, you can do them slowly and in advance of your meal (any meal).
The caramel filling is really decadent and rich. The espresso powder in the whipped cream adds a something new to the flavor. The digestive cookie crust is another departure from the normal graham cracker crust which really gives the pie more depth of flavor and less sweetness somehow. And well, bananas are bananas!
You will need to get digestive cookies from the market. You can also order them online here. Hard to get less than three pack via mail, but they are good cookies – great to use to make the pie again, share with friends (Jason, I’m going to give you some) or crumble and put in vanilla ice cream so good!
You also need to get some sweetened condensed milk and some espresso powder. You can get the milk at the store and espresso powder here or here or at a specialty store. It lasts for a long time – and it is called for in many chocolate cake recipes as well.
Make the filling and crust up to a day before you plan to serve it. Finish it closer to service with the topping and bananas.
banoffee pie (very slightly adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor):
filling
2 cans (14 oz each) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
hot/boiling water as needed
crumb crust
2 1/2 cups (plus extra to sprinkle on top) wholemeal digestive biscuit crumbs (use a food processor to make the crumbs)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
topping
3-4 medium bananas
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder dissolved in
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
For the filling, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, dark brown sugar, melted butter, and salt. Place mixture in a 6 cup oven proof dish (approx.) and cover with tin foil. Place this filling pan, inside a larger baking pan (approx 9×13). Place the double pans in the oven, then take hot or boiling water and fill the outer pan with water – about half way up the
sides. Your custard will remain dry, covered and inside of the pan with the water. (Example on the left is a chocolate dessert, but similar idea, remember the foil though.) Bake for about 1 1/2 -2 hours. Stir after 30 minutes, then in 15 minute intervals until the filling turns a toasty caramel color and thickens. Remove from oven and hot water and let cool. Make the crust while the filling cools – or while it is baking if you have 2 ovens.
For the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the crumbs, sugar, melted butter and salt together with a fork or your hands. Press the mixture somewhat firmly into a 9 inch pie shell – or a similar sized container (a tart pan, decorative quiche pan) and place in the oven. Bake for about 6-7 minutes until a little deeper brown. Let cool.
Scoop and spoon the cooled filling into the pie shell. At this point, you can cover and let sit for us to 24 hours. But let sit for at least a few hours to set.
Make the topping by whipping up the cream with the sugar, epresso powder and vanilla. Go to freshly whipped cream for instructions on how to do this.
Now, sprinkle a little awesome salt if you have it on top of the caramel filling. I love my Malden sea salt. Cut the bananas in about 1/2 inch thick slices. Place on top of the filling. I really jammed the bananas in since I really wanted to taste them. Cover the bananas with the whipped cream. Make sure you cover them all so they don’t brown.
Sprinkle bits of the crumbled digestive cookies on top and place in the fridge for a bit. Serve when you are ready!
Enjoy-
