Banoffee Pie

Yesterday I joined a bunch of friends attending a dessert party. My friend who invited me extended the invitation along with instant mockery along the lines of, "We know you can't bake, so if you want to bring a savory dish, you can."  I know, right? WHAT A BITCH!

Gauntlet dropped, I considered a few REALLY fussy recipes, thinking I'd show HER.  As the date approached, the dread of baking anything that would take me hours increased so I went through my recipe file for things I know I love and that I've not made for this group of friends before. I stumbled upon a note I'd sent myself a couple of years ago when I was on business in the UK and discovered Banoffee Pie for the first time.  My friends over there were incredulous that Id never heard of it, and were smugly unsurprised when I tried it and wanted to rub it all over my body.

Banoffee Pie is an orgasm in a pie shell. (Yes, ladies…that means you can have 2 or 3). Graham crackery type of shell (made with Digestive Biscuits, actually), chewy toffee, whipped cream and bananas. It ended up being little fuss, other than having to plan in advance to make the pie shell the night before to allow for cooling time. (You could do it all in the same day with little effort, but my morning before the party was full. You want to allow time for the crust and toffee to cool before you add the whipped cream mixture.)

This recipe was one I found on the Today Show website when I did a Banoffee search. The only change I've incorporated is one I learned from making one of Nancy Silverton's desserts—adding crème fraiche to the whipping cream at the end. Crème fraiche stabilizes the whipped cream and adds a slight tangy note.

Hope you guys enjoy this pie as much as we did. The Baketard baked. Suck it, Kairu! (And after sucking it, please accept my thanks for the ipad photo and the photo of the completed slice.)

Banoffee Pie

Ingredients

For biscuit base

2 1/4 cups digestive biscuit crumbs (pulse biscuits in food processor)

1/2 cup melted butter

3 tbsp sugar

For toffee filling

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 10 oz (300 ml) can sweetened condensed milk

Banana cream topping

2 cups whipping cream

7.5oz Crème Fraiche

3 tbsp icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 ripe bananas, sliced

Preparation

For biscuit base:
Mix together ingredients for the biscuit base. Press into the bottom and sides of a lightly greased 9 inch springform pan, about an inch and a half up the sides of the pan will do. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 10 -12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack.

For toffee filling:
In a small saucepan combine melted butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Bring to a slow boil until foamy, then add condensed milk. Bring back to a slow boil over medium low heat. and cook stirring continuously for another 3 or 4 minutes until the mixture darkens slightly. Remove from heat and pour into the prepared cookie crumb crust. Chill for 2 hours or more until thoroughly cooled.

For banana cream topping:
Add whipping cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat together until soft peaks form, then whip in crème fraiche. Once incorporated, gently fold in bananas.

Spread the banana cream topping over the toffee filling and garnish the top of the pie with chocolate shavings if desired. Chill for about another hour before serving.