My first experience was some years ago in a cafe at New Farm. It was the highlight of a rather unremarkable meal that made the whole effort worthwhile.
I was excited when I reached the end of Dawn French's new book 'A Tiny Bit Marvellous' and realised the recipes for the main character's favourite foods were included. I'm going to try Mo's Beetroot Cake as well.
Here's the recipe from the book but I'll give you a few of my own tips.
- make the pie at least the day before - it was so much better the next day when I made it.
- if you are a caramel freak like me you might want to up the caramel
- I made it using thickened cream for the caramel and a light cream for the topping. The light cream did not set as well but the message I got from my arteries was a big thank you. (I don't think they added up the quantity of butter involved).
- I left the base crumbs slightly bigger than normal thinking this would add a good texture - next time I will make them finer.
- hide the leftovers in the fridge very well.
Oscar’s Banoffee Pie
For the base
200g digestive biscuits (I used Marie biscuits but Nice would be nice)
100gm pecan nuts
100g butter, melted
For the caramel
100g butter
50g dark brown muscovado sugar
250mls double cream
For the topping
3 large bananas
300 ml double cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dark chocolate, grated
1 Put the biscuits and nuts in a plastic bag and bash them up using a rolling pin. (I used a food processor). Mix in the melted butter.
2 Push the mixture into the base of the tin (I used a pie plate) and flatten until the surface is even. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes. While it’s in the fridge, start making the caramel. Melt the butter and brown sugar together. Once the butter is melted, add the cream and let it bubble away for 5 minutes until thickened a little, then leave to cool.
3 Spread the caramel over the biscuit base. Peel and finely slice the bananas and lay them over the caramel. (I found I needed to let the caramel set a little before putting on the bananas – prob because I used a lower fat cream)
4. Whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla extract until it forms soft peaks and then spread over the bananas.
5. Decorate with chocolate shavings and place in the fridge until ready to serve. Run a palette knife around the edge and gently remove the tin.
6. Take a swig of home-made sloe gin. For cook.