Nurturing my inner... slice of heaven

One word when spoken softly can generate an immediate sense of warm comfort, evoke sweet memories of days gone by and generally delight a person with endless possibility.  That word... is... pie.  Mmm, yes, pie.  What?  You thought I was going to be all sentimental or something?  Who doesn't like pie?  I'll tell you who - heartless, cold weirdos.  That's who!  I've seen grandparents to toddlers enjoy pie.  An American delight.  So let's make one.

Oddly, after that bit of patriotic long windedness from me, this is an English pie.  I was going to be getting together with some friends and saw a recipe for a peanut butter, banana, something else pie.  But as I perused the Internet for some recipes to compare, I stumbled across this pie.  And in an unbelievable coinkydink, I happened to see someone make a version of it on a cooking show the next day.  Clandestined!!

Banoffee Pie

1 box of Nilla wafers (or graham crackers if you prefer)
1 stick of butter
1 can of dulce de leche (more on this to come)
4 ripe bananas, sliced
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Just under 1/4 cup confectionery sugar
Chocolate shavings (optional)

Banoffee - Combination of banana and toffee.  I say, Merriam-Webster, please add this to your dictionary.  I mean, if the made up, incorrect, completely annoying "irregardless" can be in there and it's not even a real word, then banoffee surely can.

I prefer Nilla wafers, but others like graham crackers or crumbled English biscuits.  Anything will do.  I'm sure you have a host of cookie options at your hands. 

I like the Target brand, but was at the
regular grocery store at the time.

You can do this with a rolling pin and a plastic bag, which I have as well, but I found I could get a finer grind with a food processor.  And could do it a heck of a like quicker.  Plus, my arms didn't get so tired.

I only have a small one, so I had to do the
whole box in two batches.

Then I melted the butter in the microwave for about a minute.  And poured it into the crumbs.

You can buy a premade crust instead, but
this is pretty simple. So just do it.

Mix it up with a spoon until it's a crumbly sand mixture.

Soft and moldable.

I went back and forth: pie plate or springform.  Springform won!  (This time.)

I used a 9 inch pan.

Into the bottom of the pan went the mixture.  And then I pressed it with the back of a spoon until flat.

The spoon - a practical kitchen tool.

I went back over it later with with the palm of my hand to really press it down super flat.  It needs to be refrigerated for at least 15 minutes, but more is okay too.

See, why buy premade when you can
make it yourself in a flash?!

Here's where it starts to get good.  But before I get into it, let me take you to the beginning.  The recipes I saw said to take sweetened condensed milk and make it into caramel by doing one of five things:

1.) Boil can(s) for 4 hours in a pan well covered with water.  This presented a certain safety hazard I was not willing to take a chance on.  And that was the knowledge that you had to keep the water level over the cans or else they could explode.  The last thing I needed to do was blow up my kitchen, so I nixed this from the get go.  You may be braver than me.  (I've had too many years of worst case scenario mom's words in my ears.)

2.) Boil can(s) for 8 hours in a crock pot.  Again, covered with water.  And again, I didn't want the pressure of the water evaporation issue/potential blowing up thing, though I think the likelihood of that is less with the lower temperature.

3.) Open the can(s) and pour into a 9" x 12" glass dish inside a roasting pan that you filled with water halfway up (a poaching pan) and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 300 degrees.  I wanted to do it this way, but didn't have the roasting pan.  So not this time.

4.) Open the can(s) and pour into a double boiler glass bowl set up for 1 1/2 hours.  I tried this.  And failed miserably.  I stirred it occasionally and nothing much changed for 2 hours.  So I tried to microwave it, another side option I read about, but it seemed to zap the moisture out of it and turn it into a hard caramel that was virtually unusable.  (Unless you wanted to cement bricks together.)  Granted, this may have been because I double boiled too much moisture out of it for the two hours, but I'll never know.  Because I found the PERFECT solution instead.

5.) Buy premade dulce de leche already made for you in a can!  Yippee!!!  This was the best (and safest) option of them all.  And saved me lots of time.  Sure, I realize I may seem unauthentic (or lazy) to you, but mostly, I'm willing to take a reasonable shortcut that doesn't compromise the end product.  And heck, saves me like 1 1/2 to 2 hours of prep work!  Do I really need to make my own caramel to live a fulfilling life?  Ah no.

So head over to the Mexican/Hispanic/Spanish food section of your local grocery store/specialty food shop and look for dulce de leche.  Read the label carefully so you get the correct product.  It may cost a little more than regular sweetened condensed milk, but it's worth saving the effort you don't have to expend trying to conjure up some magic canned culinary chemistry.

$4.00 a can is totally worth it, trust me (and my
wasted 2 hours with a double boiler) on this!

Open a can and spread a layer of the caramel on top of the pie crust with a small, flexible spatula.

Has the consistency of thick pudding.

Wait until you're ready to put the pie together to slice the banana, because it turns brown quickly.

I don't like my bananas too ripe.

On top of the caramel, put a layer of sliced banana and then a second layer that overlaps the first.

Two layers is best.

Some people say to put another layer of caramel on top of the bananas, but I thought that was too much.  The base layer was enough sweetness for me.  So it was time for the whipped topping.  Into a bowl went the heavy whipping cream, vanilla and confectionery sugar.  Some might like it sweeter and 1/4 cup would be perfect.  I like it a little less sweet, so I did less than 1/4 cup.  Beat with hand mixer until stiff peaks.

Don't beat too long though or you'll have butter.

Spoon the whipped cream, generously, on top of the bananas.

Helps to stop the bananas from turning brown.

Smooth the top with a flexible spatula.  Go right to the edges and seal out the air from the fruit.

Hides all the good stuff.

It's really done at this point, but you can put some chocolate shavings on it if you'd like.  I liked, so I did.  I love the chocolate/banana combo thing as is evident from previous postings.

The finishing touch of sweetness.

Chill for 2 - 3 hours or more in the fridge.  Run a knife along the inside edge to release.  And then unspring the springform.

As good as any fancy dancy bakery.

Take a sharp knife and slice off a generous piece.  Can't go too small or it will fall apart.  (Sure, that's the excuse I'll use.)

A view of each and every layer.

It's such a lovely combination, I can see why the Brits enjoy it so.  Crispy cookie, creamy caramel, fresh fruit and fluffy topping.  One bite and you'll be hooked too.  And if you're lucky, you won't have to risk your safety making sweetened condensed milk into caramel.  If you can't find dulce de leche in your local store, you really should ask your friends to mail you some!  Unless you're particularly brave.  If you have a real desire to make everything from scratch, I would still suggest you go with the baking dish technique.  If you do, let me know how it goes!  In the meantime, I'll be eating my second slice.