Banoffee is a fairly common British dessert. Grammatically, it’s a portmanteau, taking its name from banana and toffee. Culinarily, it’s a pastry case layered with caramel/toffee, banana, and whipped cream. Truthfully, you can whip one up with a store-bought graham cracker crust, some caramel from a jar (or some melted caramels), and some whipped cream. The chocolate drizzle is optional; shaved chocolate or a dusting of cocoa powder can have the same dramatic impact, and it is a show stopper.
Banoffe starts with a pastry case. If you make it the day before, I think you’ll find the whole process quite easy.
To the pastry case, you add a layer of caramel/toffee. This takes a little time, but trust me, it’s worth it. Let’s make the caramel/toffee.
INGREDIENTS
200g caster (very fine) sugar
200g heavy (whipping) cream
225g (two sticks) unsalted butter, cubed
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp crushed, finely ground sea salt
DIRECTIONS
Heat the caster sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, swirling the pan from time to time until the sugar dissolves and turns an amber color. For this recipe, a 2.5-3 quart sauce pan works quite well.
While the caramel is cooking, bring the cream to a simmer in a separate pan over a medium heat, then immediately remove it from the heat and set aside. What you want to look for is bubbles forming around the edge of the pan; that’s a simmer.
Once the melted sugar is amber-colored, carefully pour in the warm cream (be careful, as it will splutter) and stir to combine.
Once the sugar and cream are combined, add the butter, stirring continuously, until it forms a smooth caramel.
Increase the heat to high and boil until the mixture reaches 223°F on a candy or instant-read thermometer. It won’t take long.
Immediately remove the pan from the heat.
Stir in the vanilla and salt, then pour the caramel into a heatproof measuring cup (to halt the cooking process) and leave to cool until just warm.
Pour the just warm caramel into the baked pastry case and place it in the fridge, until set. You can leave it in the fridge until you are ready to finish.
While the caramel/toffee is setting, and when you’re ready to assemble, depending on size, slice 2-3 bananas, aiming for a uniform thickness just under 1/4″. If you toss the slices in a bit of lemon juice, it will mitigate their turning brown. Arrange them in a layer on the caramel.
Cover the top with whipped cream. 1-3/4 cups heavy cream with a scant 1/2 cup powdered sugar is a good balance. Chocolate drizzle works; you can also use shaved chocolate or a dusting of cocoa powder.
There you have it. It’s quite a refreshing flavor combination, and it can be made to look as plain or as fancy as you like. Most of all, enjoy!!!
never 2 old 2 start cooking 