Banoffee Pie

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Succulence and pure indulgence is the best way to describe this superb dessert

When talking about Succulence, pure indulgence, creaminess, smooth melt in your mouth goodness and all things rich and creamy, then the throne is by far for the Banoffee Pie. There is nothing richer, creamier, and more scrumptious than the combination of the melt-in-you-mouth bananas against the richness of caramel, the creaminess of whipped thickened cream and the flavour of dark chocolate shavings all in one bite! Heavens!

Balancing out the sweetness for a better experience…
I have had – on many occasions – an overly sweet Banoffee Pie that made me feel over sweetened and the experience wasn’t exactly tasty! This dessert tends to be that: very rich and overly sweet, so to balance out the flavour, I season the caramel sauce by sprinkling some salt shavings on the sauce before adding the bananas. The salt brings out the flavour and balances the sweetness as it slightly cuts through the sweet caramel. I do not sweeten the thickened whipped cream as I find the pie to become overly sweet when the cream contains sugar. I simply whip it to soft peaks in a chilled bowl and whisker, then spread it over the already sweet pie. I also go for a puff pastry crust instead a short crust or a rich pie shell. Puff pastry is not sweetened, therefore allows you to savour this dessert without leaving you feeling overly sweetened! You can go for unsweetened Cocoa Powder dusted on top, or for dark chocolate shavings as I have done in the picture above. Remember the lighter the chocolate, the sweeter it tastes.

Presentation Matters…
As ever, you can serve this dessert in full pie portion, or in mini pies. Just bake the cups in mini pie pan, or in a cupcake tin. You can also go for a deconstructed version of this pie in dessert cups. It will turn out delicious however way you serve it. Just make sure to serve it cold with extra dark chocolate shavings on the side for those who wish to top up.

I make my Banoffee Pie using my Caramel Sauce Recipe. However you can go the traditional route of making Caramel sauce using condensed sweetened milk mixed with Golden Syrup.

Ingredients

  • 1 puff pastry sheet
  • 1 recipe Caramel Sauce (on this link)
  • 1 pinch of Salt Shavings
  • 3 ripe Bananas, Sliced
  • 300ml Whipping Cream, Whipped to soft peaks
  • Large Dark Chocolate shavings or unsweetened Cocoa Powder for dusting

Place the mixing bowl and whisking attachment of your stand mixer/or electric mixer in the freezer to chill.

Preheat your oven to 450F.

Roll out your puff pastry sheet to the desired size. Line the bottom and sides of a removable bottom pie plate with baking paper. Carefully Prick the bottom and sides with a fork, without creating holes that go through the puff pastry. Holes will make the Caramel Sauce run out of the shell. Weigh down with baking beans and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes (the duration of the baking is longer here than usual because this is puff pastry, and we don’t want it to rise)..

Remove the baking beans and cook for a further 7-10 minutes or until the shell is slightly golden. Cool the shell on a wire rack.

When the shell is cooled, make the Caramel sauce. Follow the instructions in this link. Fill the cooled shell with the caramel sauce and sprinkle lightly with salt shavings. Set aside.

Place the thickened cream in your chilled bowl. Using the chilled whisker, whip the cream on medium moving up to high speed until you reach soft peaks.

Slice the bananas, and place over the salted caramel in any fashion you fancy. Immediately top the Bananas with the whipped thickened cream, spreading all over and covering all the bananas. This quick coverage will prevent blackening of the bananas.

Sprinkle thickly shaved dark chocolate or dust with unsweetened cocoa powder and serve cold with a cup of coffee.

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