One rainy weekend, we noticed we had too many bananas and the thought of baking a batch of banana bread didn’t really appeal to our sense of adventure. A quick raid of the pantry later, we realised we had the ingredients for a Banoffee Pie and so we decide to try something new! There’s nothing like spending a rainy day in the kitchen and having a comforting treat as your reward. Banoffee Pie is a well-loved English dessert, and you’ll see why, with its crunchy biscuit base, luxurious caramel layer and the freshness of bananas and cream, it’s very hard to stop at one slice. Best of all, this is actually a really simple dessert to make, no baking required and very minimal effort to assemble!

Dulce de Leche Filling:

• 1 can (395g) condensed milk

Place the can of condensed milk in a saucepan of water, ensuring it is fully submerged. Bring to the boil and cook for 3 hours, checking every 20 minutes to see if the water needs to be refilled, so the can stays completely submerged. Remove the can from the water and cool to room temperature before opening.

Crust:

• 50g butter
• 100g dark chocolate
• 40ml Thickened Cream
• 200g sweet biscuits (e.g. digestive biscuits)
• 80g slivered almonds or blanched almonds

1. Toast the almonds in a moderate oven until lightly browned. Once cool, roughly chop the almonds and set aside.
2. In a food processor, grind the biscuits until they resemble breadcrumbs.
3. Melt the chocolate, cream and butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, or in the microwave.
4. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the ground biscuits and almonds and mix well.
5. Press the mixture into the base and sides of a 25cm tart mould, ensuring the mixture is evenly distributed. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to set the crust.

Chantilly Cream:

• 250ml thickened cream
• 2 Tablespoons icing sugar

Whip the cream and icing sugar together with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

To Assemble:

• Crust
• Dulce de Leche Filling
• 2 large bananas, sliced into ¾ cm slices
• Chantilly Cream

1. Spread the Dulce de Leche filling across the base of the tart.
2. Cover the caramel with sliced bananas.
3. Put the Chantilly cream in a piping bag, and cut the end of the bag into a 1.5cm opening. Cover the top of the pie with little dollops of cream, until completely covered.
4. Garnish with edible flowers of your choice. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving.