With just-ripe-enough bananas, bittersweet toffee, and heaps of whipped cream, this basic British dessert deserves a spot at your desk. Many recipes name for canned dulce de leche, however our filling depends on a chewy do-it-yourself caramel sauce, which provides a smoky attract and depth that you simply received’t get in any other case. Combining burnt sugar with butter, then stirring in store-bought sweetened condensed milk, creates an eye-rollingly-good pie filling that cuts cleanly into lovely slices. We additionally tossed in a layer of salted nuts (peanuts or cashews), which supplies the toffee a PayDay sweet bar vibe; you may go away them out should you desire.
Sturdy digestive biscuits make the standard cookie crust for this cream pie, however plain previous graham crackers are a prepared substitute. Use a meals processor to make sure the crackers are crushed to high-quality crumbs, then pulse in melted butter and a little bit of sugar. The sugar melts in the course of the pie crust’s fast bake, serving to maintain the graham cracker crumbs collectively. (If you happen to should use a rolling pin to crush the grahams, know that doing so will end in bigger, extra irregular items which can be extra more likely to crumble when sliced—not a deal-breaker however not excellent.)
Select ripe bananas which can be totally yellow, perhaps with a brown speckle or two. Avoid fruit with hints of inexperienced (too starchy) or with too many spots (too mushy). As for the crowning glory, the addition of bitter cream and instantaneous vanilla pudding combine simply transforms a puddle of chilly heavy cream right into a flavorful cloud, its texture nearly like whipped cheesecake. Intention for agency peaks (simply shy of stiff peaks). Do-it-yourself whipped cream offers sufficient drama on this banoffee pie recipe, however must you need a couple of darkish chocolate shavings (made with a Y-peeler and a bar of chocolate), a dusting of cocoa powder, or extra sliced bananas perched atop the cream, all make for a high-quality garnish.
