Banoffee Pie

I recently had a little poll on facebook, asking all of my friends which out of the following should I bake next and post on my blog; Cherry Loaf, Banoffee Pie or Milk Chocolate Fudge. Banoffee Pie won hands down and I was secretly very happy!! I LOVE Banoffee Pie...there is something magical about the combination of bananas and toffee...it tastes heavenly!! One of the most luxurious and self indulgent desserts ever.....not one for those who are calorie counting, that's for sure!

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Ingredients

(Fits a 10inch Tart Tin - Serves 8)

For the Filling                                                          For the Pastry Base
3 Bananas                                                                    300g Plain Flour
115g Butter (diced)                                                  230g Butter (diced)
1 tin Condensed Milk                                                 100g Caster Sugar
115g Soft Brown Sugar
2tbsp Golden Syrup
Lemon Juice
1 pot of Double Cream
Some Milk Chocolate to grate on the top

1. Start by Preheating the oven to 160degreesC.

2. Place the flour and butter into a large mixing bowl and crumble with your finger tips. Pour in the sugar and form a very soft and pliable dough. (Do NOT roll it out with a rolling pin - it is too soft and will break.) Massage it into the tart tin so that it covers the tin and there are no gaps/holes. Try to make the pastry as evenly spread as possibly. Bake in the oven for 1 hour.

3. Remove the pastry from the oven and allow to cool.

4. Meanwhile, put the butter, sugar, syrup and condensed milk into a large saucepan and heat slowly, stirring constantly. Work up to the boil and then reduce the heat and cook for 10mins. Make sure you stir throughout the cooking process otherwise the sugar will burn. You will see the caramel/toffee change colour and increase in thickness. 

5. Pour the caramel/toffee sauce over the cooled pastry base and allow to set and cool for at least 1hour.

6. Slice the bananas and drip the lemon juice on top of them (this will stop them going brown and mushy) and place them on top of the the toffee, over lapping in a pretty pattern.

7. Whip the double cream in a bowl and when firm, spread over the top of the bananas relatively evenly. Grate the milk chocolate on top of the cream and chill in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

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This is a pretty spectacular pudding! I would definitely recommend baking this for a dinner party or if you are spending time with some family. Make sure you have plenty of room in the fridge, to keep it chilled, or that you are baking it for people with rather large appetites!! I would happily have a Banoffee Pie instead of a birthday cake any day! I really hope that you give this recipe a go, it's rather time consuming, but soooo worth the effort! Please let me know how it goes and feel free to post a picture or any improvements that you would recommend.

Bon Appetit!!