Banoffee Pie

If you know me, or if you pay weirdly close attention to my blog (tell me if you do because I love you!) then you know that banana cream is my favorite pie and has been all my life. Banoffee pie (a combo word of banana and toffee) is kind of the British version of it. I'd heard of it, both in England and at home in the U.S. but didn't actually taste it until a few years ago. After all, nothing could be better than my beloved original, right?

My first time eating it was at a local British style restaurant and I honestly felt that their version had too much chocolate and not enough banana. But I can just do what I always do when I'm not happy with a restaurant's version of something. I make it myself.

The main difference between the two pies is that the American version has a pastry cream filling and the British version a dulce de leche filling. You can, of course, just use caramel but it doesn't have the same depth of flavor. Caramel is made with sugar and heavy cream whereas dulce de leche is made by boiling sweetened condensed milk. The higher quantity of sugar in the sweetened condensed milk causes it to have a darker color and deeper flavor when cooked. It's time consuming to make but not hard. It's just boiling the can in water for 3 hours and making sure the water level stays above the can. Easy enough.

The British are also more likely to use digestive biscuits instead of graham crackers for the crust and here is where I'm full on team British. I love digestive biscuits and usually have them around. Think of them as whole wheat shortbread. You can find them online or in the international aisle of your grocery store and I highly recommend trying them. The rest of the ingredients are pretty much fresh bananas and fresh whipped cream with a little bit of shaved chocolate over top.

Don't ask me to choose a favorite. I can't. Enjoy!

Yield: 8 Servings

Author: Anita Schecter

Banoffee Pie

Prep time: 25 MinCook time: 3 HourInactive time: 4 HourTotal time: 7 H & 25 M

Recipe for pie made with fresh bananas, dulce de leche, whipped cream and chocolate on a graham cracker base.

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 1 1/2 Cups graham cracker crumbs *
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 Teaspoon salt
• * For a more "English" flavor, use digestive biscuits instead of graham crackers.

For the Filling:

• 1 Can (14 oz. ) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 Bananas, peeled and sliced

For the Topping:

• 2 Cups heavy cream
• 1/4 Cup powdered sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 oz. Chocolate, shaved

Instructions

1. To make the crust, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Stir together the melted butter, sugar and salt. Mix in the crushed graham crackers and press into an 8" tart pan with a removable bottom. Note that, if using digestive biscuits, eliminate the sugar since they are already sweetened.
3. Bake for 15 minutes and then allow to cool completely.
4. To make the dulce de leche, remove the label from you can of sweetened condensed milk. Submerge it, on its side, in a pot of boiling water and make sure it covers the can completely. Cook for 3 hours, adding water as needed to make sure its level is above the can at all times. Remove the can from the water and allow to cool completely before opening.
5. To make the whipped cream, add the heavy cream, powdered sugar and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until the mixture thickens, between 5 and 7 minutes.
6. To assemble the pie, pour the dulce de leche into the baked crust and spread out evenly. Top with the sliced bananas and then the whipped cream. Sprinkle the shaved chocolate over the top and serve. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.