BANOFFEE PIE

Good Morning to you,

Are you in the mood for a touch of sweetness?  

I think I need to re-phrase that.  Are you in the mood for something v-e-r-r-y  s-w-e-e-t? (do you see the emphasis on the "r".)

You are?  Well I have something  for you today which I know will tickle your taste buds.... a Banoffee Pie!

I have not eaten or made a Banoffee pie before,  so this is a first for me, but what I do know, is that this is a very popular dessert on both sides of the Atlantic,

.....and yes, it tastes as fabulous as it looks. So without more ado, here is the recipe.

THE INGREDIENTS

THE BASE AND SIDES

75 g/2 1/2 oz butter

300g/10 1/2 oz chocolate oat biscuits

THE FILLING

115g/4 oz butter

115g/4 oz soft dark brown sugar

397g/14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

THE TOPPING

450ml/16fl oz double cream

5 ripe but firm medium sized bananas

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

25g/ 1 oz coarsely grated plain dark chocolate

or 

chocolate curls

23 cm / 9 inch fluted, deep, loose-based tart tin

THE METHOD

THE BASE AND SIDES

Melt the butter in a small pan.

Break the biscuits into chunky pieces and

pulse in a food processor.

Alternatively, place the biscuits in a strong
polythene food bag and hit with a rolling pin.

Remove the crumbs into a bowl 

and mix in the melted butter

Place the crumbs into the centre of your tart tin. Press the crumbs firmly into the base and also up the sides. Make sure the biscuit base is evenly distributed, especially where the base meets the sides.

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes

or until set.

THE FILLING

Melt the butter in a medium non-stick pan

stir in the sugar.

As you can see, I did not use a non stick saucepan
as I do not own one.

Cook over a low heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring constantly until the butter and sugar look smooth and no oil floats on the surface.

(Once my mixture came to a simmer, it took about 10 minutes for the mixture to become smooth)

Open the tin and add the Condensed Milk to the melted butter and sugar.

Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly.

Cook for 3 minutes, (keep stirring, I cannot emphasise this enough as the mixture will burn otherwise) until the mixture turns a deep, creamy, caramel brown.

Remove your base from the fridge.

Gently pour the toffee mixture onto the biscuit base and quickly smooth the surface. 
(I used a palette knife dipped in hot water...this did the trick)

Leave to chill for one hour (up to eight hours)

Slice the bananas diagonally

and toss together with the lemon juice 

(this prevents the bananas turning brown)

Lay the cut bananas over the caramel.

As an alternative, keep back one sliced lemony banana to place into the cream.

Lightly whip the cream until it stands

in soft peaks 

Spoon the cream over the sliced bananas
If you kept back one sliced banana, then
pop the slices into the cream.

Sprinkle with grated chocolate.
Alternatively add the chocolate curls.
Chill for 1 hour then remove the fluted tart tin.
(I left the base as this I find  impossible
to remove)

Cut yourself a small piece of pie, do not make the same mistake as George.  While I was making him a cup of coffee and tidying up the kitchen, I forgot to mention how sweet the Banoffee pie was. Remember we had never eaten it before, so George did not realise how sweet this dessert was.  A little too late, I noticed he had cut himself a rather large piece of pie. He had disappeared into his den to watch the football and when I arrived, with his coffee, he had eaten the pie. Whilst he really enjoyed it, afterwards, he complained that his stomach was so full. I asked him why he did not stop eating the pie if he was full, and he said "Well it tasted so nice". Mmm, as Phyllis would say "His eyes were bigger than his belly".

Now I have to tell you, this is not my recipe, this is a recipe from the BBC series The Hairy Bikers Best of British. 

For those of you who do not know who The Hairy Bikers are, they are Dave Myers and Si King. Two fabulous boys from the North of England. The first time I came across the Hairy Bikers was when I lived in Cyprus. We were able to pick up Dubai TV and it was at the time, I think around 2007, when the boys were touring Argentina on their motor bikes. They stopped at various locations and they would talk about the history and culture of the places they visited.  I loved their adventurous spirit and I admired the fact that they travelled around Argentina on motorbikes. If you do not know who the boys are, please take a look at their books or tv programmes, I know you will not be disappointed.

Oh, and just in case you are wondering why the boys are called the Hairy Bikers,

I think the photograph is self explanatory.

This week I shall be joining,

Karen from Sew Many Ways
and

Yvonne from Stonegable
and
Alli from An Alli Event

It is time to go as I need to check to see how George is doing.

Take care and I will see you later in the week.