Outlander Kitchen's Banoffee Pie
It started with a few tweets and a couple of pictures.
Soon, it had ballooned into a full-blown Banoffee Pie obsession that quickly spread from the cast & crew in the UK to those of us following along on the other side of the pond.
"What is Banoffee?" people were asking.
Most of the answer is in the name...bananas and toffee. Add a cookie/biscuit crust and some whipped cream on top, and you have a dessert for the ages. Or maybe Thanksgiving this Thursday?
The toffee in a banoffee is actually dulce de leche, aka caramelized condensed milk. I've been making dulce in the slow cooker for years, but that takes the better part of a day, including cooling time.
My decision to make a pie was rather last minute, so I cut the time to less than half by making it on the stove top. Alternatively, there are even faster methods than simmering it in the can. Check out 8 Ways to Make Dulce De Leche.
Or, you could always just buy a jar at a specialty/high-end grocery store.
Next is the crust, usually made from crushed digestive biscuits and some melted butter. I didn't have any biscuits in the house, but I do have Mrs. Graham's recipe for digestives, so I made (roughly) half a batch of dough, pressed that into the pan and baked it until crisp.
I was in the kitchen watching my dulce boil away, so making the cookie crust this way was no bother at all. However, if you're looking for a less-labour instensive crust, you can crush cookies in your food processor, then mix in enough melted butter so that it holds together in the pan. No baking required.
Of course, if you're really in a hurry, there are always those pre-made graham cracker crusts. Your Outlander Kitchen is full of options...you're in charge!
Once those two components are made, all there is left to do is slice some bananas, whip some cream, grate a little chocolate, and then put it all together.
As My Englishman is fond of saying, "Easy peasy, fresh and squeezy!"
<Sigh.> Even after twenty years, that accent gets me every time. No matter what comes out of his mouth.
But that's enough about my relationship. Go make yourself some pie. My recipe is below.
Outlander Kitchen's Banoffee Pie
:Digestive cookie crust, dulce de leche and banana centre, all topped with whipped cream. Sweet, gooey and delicious.
Yield: 8” Pie or Tart
Ingredients
- Condensed Milk - 1 can
- Rolled Oats – ½ Cup (125 ml)
- All-Purpose or Whole-Wheat Flour - ½ Cup (125 ml)
- Brown Sugar – ¼ Cup, lightly packed (60 ml)
- Butter – ¼ Cup, cubed (60 ml)
- Milk – 1 Tble (15 ml)
- Bananas - 2 large or 3 small
- Whipping Cream - 1 Cup (250 ml)
- Sugar - 1 Tble (15 ml)
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate, grated or chips - for garnish
Method
Read the recipe through at least once before you begin.
For the dulce de leche: Punch 2 small holes in the top of the can of condensed milk with the tip of a can opener. (This will prevent the can from exploding.) Place the can in a saucepan and fill with water to reach within 1” (2.5 cm) of the top of the can. Bring the water to a simmer over medium high, then reduce to medium low to maintain a gentle simmer.
A bit of the milk will bubble up onto the top of the can, that’s fine. Do not allow the water to boil over the top of the can. Simmer for about 3.5 hours, topping up with boiling water from a kettle to keep the water level consistent.
Remove from the pan with tongs, wipe the top clean and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes. When the can is/are cool enough to handle, open and pour/scrape the contents into a bowl. Whisk well until smooth and homogeneous.
Move the rack to the middle and heat the oven to 350°F. (175°C).
Grind oats in a food processor or coffee grinder until a fine powder. Mix ground oats, flour and brown sugar in a bowl. Add butter and mix with your fingertips until well incorporated and no big lumps of butter remain. Add milk and mix well to moisten every crumb.
Press the dough into an 8” tart pan or pie plate (see notes). Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the edge of the crust is golden and the centre firm. Cool completely on a rack.
Spoon the dulce de leche into the crust and smooth with a spatula. Chill in the fridge until firm. Whip the cream and sugar to soft peaks. Slice the bananas and arrange in a layer on top of the dulce de leche. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with chocolate.
Chill until ready to serve.
- Set the can of condensed milk on a small ring of foil to keep it from rattling on the bottom of the pan. Not necessary, but quieter.
- You can also make the dulce de leche in a crockpot if you prefer. Recipe here. Note: this method takes 8 hours, plus time to cool, but does not require constant attention.
- My dulce de leche was a bit too loose. I cooked it for 3 hours. 3.5 hours will be just right.
- If using a tart pan, keep about ¼ Cup (60 ml) of the dough aside for another use (mini fruit crumble?), otherwise the crust will be too thick. Use all of the dough if using a pie plate, which has higher sides.
