Creamy Banoffee Pie with a Crunchy Pecan Crust

Everybody I know in Ireland absolutely loves banoffee pie, and why not? Bananas, caramel, toffee, cream, pie, yummy, yummy, yummy....but what is 'Banoffee Pie?' I hear you cry! Well, actually it's a dish that originated in England in the seventies and has spread through the UK and Ireland as a firm favorite in coffee shops throughout the land, or as the perfect suburban dessert, served as a 'sure bet' after the home cook has embarrased her guests with the weird exotic dish she dreamed up just last night...

But seriously, this is a suprizingly yummy dessert, made with suprizingly simple ingredients that will very much impress your guests at your next party event....

Here in the South there is already a love affair going on with 'pies' in general, so, to sweeten the deal I have added a pecan crust into the recipe to give it that little 'Southern twist' and make a wonderful dish even better, (oh, and I replaced that 'boil the can for hours' thing as well, which can be a little tiresome I'm afraid.)

So, give it a go...bananas, creamy caramel, rich pecan crust and fresh whipped cream...what could possibly go wrong!

(serves 8-10 people)

(crust)
8 oz (2 cups) graham crackers or Irish digestive biscuits (crushed)
1 Tbsp fine granulated sugar
½ cups finely chopped pecans
½ cup melted butter
¼ tsp cinnamon

(Cooked Toffee layer)
4 oz (1/2 cup) butter
9 Tbsp fine granulated sugar
1 ¾ 14 oz cans (2 cups) sweetened condensed milk

(Filling)
3 medium bananas
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp fine granulated sugar
1 tsp cocoa powder (sieved)

Method
1. To make crust combine all ingredients and press the crumb mixture in to the bottom of a large greased 9” pie plate.
2. Bake crust for 10 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool and set aside.
3. To make the toffee combine the butter and sugar and stir until melted. Add the sweetened condensed milk and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 12-15 minutes until it becomes a rich caramel color. Remember to stir all the time as mixture can easily burn. Remove from heat and cool.
4. Slice the bananas and arrange on the bottom of the prepared crust. Squeeze lemon juice over bananas to help prevent fruit from browning. Then spread caramel mixture on top.
5. Refrigerate until ready to eat. Whisk fresh cream and sugar in electric mixer until soft peaks appear and spread over toffee layer. Using a sieve dust liberally with cocoa powder.

Enjoy!
Judith

*oh, and if you want to print this out for your own kitchen I suggest copying and pasting it into Word. If you print this blog you will depleat the entire forests of Canada in one fell swoop! ...you have been warned! :-)