banoffee pie

When the cousins were here, we had pie three days in a row. At the start of the week, I knocked out three graham cracker crusts, wrapped them in plastic, and stashed them in the jelly cupboard. The first day I made a key lime pie. The second, a German cheesecake. And the third, a banoffee pie. [takes sweeping bow] My family thought they’d died and gone to heaven.

Banoffee pie — a mashup of bananas and toffee — originated in Britain (I think) and is enormously popular, from what I’ve read. I’ve been wanting to try one for years (seriously!), and since I’d made a large batch of dulce de leche that week, and we had a bunch of ripe bananas on the counter and that final crust in the cupboard, that’s exactly what I did.

The recipe was so simple — graham cracker crust, dulce de leche, bananas, whipped cream — that it felt trashy. I read it a bunch of times to make sure I wasn’t missing something, and then I read a bunch of other recipes, too, just to double check (and to familiarize myself with all comments and potential variations).

I was skeptical that anyone would like it, but I was wrong. The pie might be kinda low-brow — kinda like the classic banana pudding (that I loved) — but hey, not all pies need to be intimidating. And banoffee pie can be as classed-up as you like, what with homemade whipped cream, raw milk dulce, and, if you’re feeling righteously industrious, homemade graham crackers — or not!

Either way, it’s pie and people will gobble it. 

Banoffee Pie

Most instructions say to assemble the pie immediately before eating, but some people say it’s better on day two. The bananas will brown a little, but they also kinda meld into the dulce so it’s not terrible — just be sure to cover them well with the whipped cream to slow the oxidation. 

Lots of recipes call for 2 cups (cans) of dulce and only 2 bananas. However, I scaled back the dulce by half (it’s so sweet) and double the bananas. 

Variations I’ve considered but haven’t yet tried include 1) caramelizing the bananas, 2) adding rum to the whipped cream, or to the dulce, 3) using cocoa powder in place of grated chocolate, 4) putting a thin layer of chocolate ganache on the bottom of the crust before adding the dulce, 5) using a coconuty shortbread instead of grahams for the crust — and so on. Flavors that keep popping into mind include coconut, pecans, pineapples. Mess around!

1 9-inch parbaked graham cracker crust (see below)
1-2 cups dulce de leche
3-4 bananas, perfectly ripe and without any spots
2-3 cups sour cream whip (see below)
grated chocolate, optional

to assemble:
Spread the dulce de leche over the bottom of the crust. Slice the bananas and arrange over the dulce. Top with the sour cream whip, making sure to completely cover the bananas. Flurry the top with freshly-grated semi-sweet chocolate. Refrigerate.

for the graham cracker crust:
1½ cups (150 grams) graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 pinch salt
3-4 tablespoons butter, melted

Stir together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt. Add the melted butter. The crumbs should hold together when firmly fisted but not be so saturated that butter oozes out. Press the crumbs into a 9-inch pie shell and up the sides — use a metal cup, if you like. Bake the crust at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cooled crusts can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for several days, or frozen for longer storage.

for the sour cream whip:
2 cups heavy cream 
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sour cream
2 tablespoons 10x sugar

Combine all ingredients in a mixer and beat on high until soft to medium peaks form. 

This same time, years previous: ricotta pancakes, how we homeschool: Milva, Samin’s soy-braised beef short ribs, what kind of stove should we buy, the quotidian (1.25.16), the quotidian (1.26.15), first day of classes, housekeeping, thoughts, gripping the pages.

7 Comments

  • IrishWoman1975

    The decades-old, classic recipe is “trashy”? No. It’s not. It’s simple. YOU are trashy for this BS description.

  • Thrift at Home

    When Ben discovered banoffee pie years ago, he fell in love (ok, we all did). Now it’s renamed BENoffee pie and has been his birthday dessert for so many years, like a decade?
    I agree with Mavis!!! All pie is GOOD PIE. Some is BETTER, I grant you that.

  • Jenny

    In my version of banoffee pie, the bananas go under the dulce de leche right on top of the crust. No worries with oxidation of the bananas.
    I have never used sour whip cream but that sounds amazing! Next time I make banoffee pie, I will try that.

  • Ramona

    I heard about this pie awhile back and have wanted to try it. Since I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now I was surprised I didn’t find a Banoffee pie among all your other pie recipes. Good to see you made one. I’ve also seen a few different recipes and not sure which one to try.

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