Banoffee Pie

Legend has it that the Banoffee Pie was invented in 1972 in Jevington, East Sussex, England by Ian Dowding and Nigel Mackenzie of The Hungry Monk restaurant.

Unfortunately, it was not patented which resulted in some supermarkets repackaging it as an American pie.

There are a couple of ways to spell the name...most call it Banoffee Pie which is an obvious combination of the word Banana and Toffee but the Hungry Monk restaurant prefers to call it Banoffi.

Now, there are several ways to make a good Banoffee Pie although the traditional way is a wee bit "dangerous". It involves placing an unopened can of condensed milk into a pot of boiling water and letting it boil away for about 3 hours.

If you are not careful and the water evaporates away, the unopened can may explode!

Banoffee Pie

Ingredients

Tin (400g) of CONDENSED milk

Three large bananas, sliced

One packet of Hob-Nobs (or any digestive biscuits)

1 cup of double cream, or whipping cream

2 tablespoons butter

Preparation

1. Place the digestives into a freezer bag and crush them with a rolling pin until they are crumbly.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan.

3. In a bowl and using your hands, combine the crumbs and liquid butter until well combined.

4. Pat crumbs into a pie dish or fairly large glass dish (e: Pyrex) until the base is covered.

5. Place the base in the refrigerator to set.

6. To caramelise the condensed milk, place the tin in a shallow pot or pan of boiling water. Do not open tin first though.

7. Allow to milk to boil for about 2 hours.

8. You should put a lid on the shallow pot or pan to ensure the water does not completely boil away. Please check regularly to ensure there is water in the pot/pan all the time.

9. When done, very carefully remove the tin and allow it to cool. I suggest pouring some cold water on the tin.

10. When it is cool enough for you to handle it, very carefully open the tin. At this point, the milk will have caramelised and if still hot, may splatter out of the opening.

11. Carefully, spoon the caramelised milk/toffee from the tin and spread it over the biscuit base.Place the dish into the fridge again to cool for half an hour.

12. Remove dish from refrigerator and arrange the sliced bananas on top of the toffee.

13. Meanwhile, whip the cream until peaking, then fold on top and smooth it out.

14. Place into the refrigerator again to cool and serve when needed.