a little bit of London in AZ

In February, Marissa was in London and when she returned home she raved about a dessert she had there, Banoffee Pie, aka Banoffi Pie. Banoffee is a banana and toffee pie that was invented in 1972 at The Hungry Monk restaurant. I promised to make it for her and today I am fulfilling that promise.  Her friend, and former college roommate, Petra, has been in town the last couple of weeks and she is leaving tomorrow, so I made the pie for them to share.  It was Petra who Marissa was visiting in the UK and Petra who introduced her to the dessert.

I found the original Hungry Monk recipe online and that is what I am posting here.  That was all good until I was ready to put the whipped cream on top and decided to go look at Marissa’s picture of the pie to see if the topping was spread or piped on.  The picture of her slice of pie looks nothing like what I’ve made, as you can see below!

Obviously, they didn’t have their pie at The Hungry Monk, because their slice looks like it has chocolate on top and she states in the caption that it had a graham cracker crust… oh well, the pie I’ve made will have to do.  I may sprinkle on a little cocoa powder before they see it and try to fool them. And unfortunately, I can’t take a picture of a slice, but maybe Marisa will remember to do so and I’ll post it here later.

This next paragraph is directly from The Hungry Monk cookbook and is important to heed!

The secret of this delicious pudding lies in the condensed milk, which you turn into toffee by immersing the cans unopened in a deep pan of boiling water.
*CAUTION
It is absolutely vital to top up the pan of boiling water frequently during the cooking of the cans. 3 hours is a long time and if they are allowed to boil dry the cans will explode causing a grave risk to life, limb and kitchen ceilings.

Banoffee Pie

1 pie deep dish pie crust, homemade, refrigerated, or frozen (I used frozen)
Two 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk (21 ounces total)
1 1/2 pound (about 4 large) firm bananas (not overripe!)
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 teaspoon espresso powder or 1/2 teaspoon powdered instant coffee
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Place the unopened cans of sweetened condensed milk in a large pot and cover completely with water, continue to add water until it is several inches above the top of the cans.  Cover and boil for 3 hours making sure that the pan does not boil dry.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Prick the bottom of the prepared crust all over with a fork and bake blind until crisp and browned. Allow to cool completely.

Remove the cans from the water and allow them to cool completely before opening, this will take another couple of hours. The cans may be refrigerated to speed the process, but only after they come to room temperature.

Whip the cream with the espresso powder and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.

Use only 1 1/2 cans of the toffee (21 ounces) and spread evenly over the bottom of the cooled crust.  Cover and refrigerate the remaining half can and use it on ice cream or whatever you would like.

Peel and then cut the bananas into 1/4-inch-thick slices and pile over toffee.  Spread or pipe on the cream on top and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours before serving.

Serves 8