Banoffee Pie Tutorial
If you're looking for a sumptuous, no-bake summer dessert packed with goodness but oozes of naughtiness, then this is the dessert for you. It's filled with bananas, that's the good bit I mentioned, but with lashings of cream and caramel served on a biscuit base. Easy to put together and loved by all who taste it, you'll be the cream of the crop if you make this delightful dessert! No pun intended!
Ingredients:
- 100 Grams Melted Lurpak Unsalted Butter – (Extra for Greasing)
- 225 Grams Digestive Biscuits (Alternative - Biscoff Biscuits or Ginger Biscuits)
- 397 Gram Tin of Nestle Carnation Caramel (Alternative - 400 Grams Dulce De Leche)
- 300 ml Double Cream
- 1-2 Tbsp(s) Icing Sugar (Optional)
- 2- 3 Bananas – Peeled and Sliced – (Remove the ends and stringy pieces).
- 2 Small Block Pieces of Lindt Dark Chocolate - ( Alternative - 1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder to Dust or 100 Grams of Dark Chocolate Chips for added Crunch)
Equipment:
- 8 Inch Loose Based Tin (or Tin of Choice)
- Piece of Kitchen Roll (For Greasing)
- Scales
- Small Pan or Microwave Dish
- 2 x Spatulas (For Butter Pan & Cream)
- Plastic Bag (For Bashing Biscuits)
- Small Rolling Pin
- 3 x Tablespoons (For Pie Base, Caramel & Cream)
- Small Glass (Optional)
- Measuring Spoons
- Electric Whisk
- 2 x Teaspoons (Taste Testing)
- Knife and Plate (For Cutting Bananas)
- Palette Knife (For Spreading Cream)
- Grater for Chocolate
- Cake Slicer and Plates for Serving
- Fridge
Method:
Note: - Please use food gloves if you are making this for somebody else. We were making it for the family hence why I didn't use gloves.1 If you have an 8-inch loose-based tart tin, grease it with butter. If not, use a Pyrex lid, flan tin, or other tart tin of choice.
2 Weigh out the unsalted butter.
3 Melt the butter in a saucepan on the hob or in a microwaveable dish in 30-second bursts until melted.
I slowly melted mine in a pan on my hob on number 5. (Once melted, remove from the heat and leave to one side).
4 Weigh out the biscuits, 15 digestive biscuits weighed 224 grams, so I used that amount.
5 Place the biscuits in a food processor or food bag and blitz or beat them with a small rolling pin until they are fine crumbs.
6 Combine the butter and blitzed biscuits together and ensure they are covered in the butter.
I poured the entire contents of the biscuit crumbs into the pan.
Cover all the biscuits crumbs in the melted butter.
7 Once fully covered, pour them into the tin.
8 First, use a spatula to help distribute the crumbs over the tin.
Then, using the back of a tablespoon or small clean glass, push the butter biscuit mix along the base of the tin. Filling in all the gaps and up the sides.
Compact the crumbs to ensure a sturdy base for the filling.
The tighter the crumb, the better the base, but not so much that you won't be able to cut it later.
Note: -
Let the base cool before placing it in the fridge. (Place your hand under the base of the tin to feel if the tin is warm). I placed mine on a cold surface to help cool. (If you place warm items in your fridge you'll alter the temperature and potentially start to spoil the goods in your fridge). Once the base of the tin feels at room temp place in the fridge to set.Chill the pie base for approximately 30 minutes or until set.
9 Once set, remove the pie base from the fridge. Then, open the can of Carnation Caramel, stir it with a knife and pour it over the top of the base. (If you wish, add a touch of salt to the caramel for a salted caramel flavour).
10 Spread the caramel over the pie base with the back of a spoon or spatula. The picture shows that the caramel came out in a set blob.
I scooped half of the caramel out, then stirred the remainder in the tin before pouring over the top of the 'set' pie base.
This makes it easier to spread. Place the pie to one side when you have spread the caramel.
11 Now, place the double cream and 1 tablespoon of icing sugar into a mixing bowl.
12 Whisk until the icing sugar disappears. Take a small spoon, dip into the liquid and taste-test the cream. Add the additional tablespoon of icing sugar and whisk in. (We used 2½ Tablespoons of Icing Sugar).
13 The cream is very runny and liquid-like at first, as shown.
Whisk on a high speed until the mixture starts to thicken.
Once the mixture has soft peaks and looks thickened, it is ready to use. (Place in the fridge if you need the cream to stay cold whilst you work on the bananas).
14 Now take your bananas, peel and slice them and place them on top of the caramel.
15 In a circular pattern or pattern of your choice.
Cover the surface of the caramel.
16 Now scoop the thickened double cream over the bananas and spread with a palette knife, spoon, or spatula.
I scooped the cream with the spatula.
We then spread it with a palette knife and drew a heart shape in the centre. (My daughter's idea).
17 We then grated dark chocolate over the top of the cream. As an alternative, you could dust with cocoa powder, use a potato peeler to create chocolate curls, or, for an added crunch, use dark chocolate chips instead. Once complete, place in the fridge to keep cool.
18 Then comes the fun part because I didn't have a loose base tin. The first piece was a touch hard to get out, but it's only for my family, so they don't mind.
The second and third pieces were much easier, as you can see.
Added Alternatives: Optional
- If you want individual portions whereby you don't have to cut a slice of pie, then make the banoffee pies deconstructed in small glasses and build up the biscuit, caramel, banana, cream and chocolate layers.
- You could also make small pies for individual portions.
- For a chocolate base, add about 10 -15 Grams of Cocoa powder to the biscuits before crushing them.
- To create a sealed base, place a thin layer (about 30 - 50 grams) of melted chocolate on the ‘set pie base’. Once cooled, place in the fridge to set.
- Sprinkle a touch of sea salt into the caramel and mix in for a salted caramel twist. This will enhance the flavour and balance the sweetness.
- Use dark chocolate chips on the top to decorate or in the pie to give it an added crunch.
