Benedict Cumberbatch claims to be a fan of this English pastry-based dessert made from bananas, cream, toffee from boiled condensed milk (or dulce de leche)

The Original Banoffi Pie Recipe by Ian Dowding
I have come across some pretty ghastly versions of Banoffi in my career I get a bit pedantic about the correct version - so here it is:

BANOFFI PIE
You will need a 10 x 1½ inch (deep) loose bottomed flan tin
Oven temp: 180 C / gas mark 4

For the pastry:
250g / 9 oz plain flour
25g / 1 oz icing sugar
125g / 4½ oz butter
1 egg and 1 egg yolk

Place the flour and sugar in a bowl, cut the butter into cubes and then rub it in to the flour / sugar until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Work in the egg to form a paste.
Chill for half an hour then roll out to the thickness of a pound coin and line the flan tin.
Prick the base, line with parchment paper and weigh down with dry beans.
Cook for fifteen minutes then remove the beans and paper.
Put the pastry case back into the oven and cook until it is evenly golden.
Remove from the oven and cool.

To assemble:
1 ½ tins of banoffi toffee (see note below on boiling the tins or click here)
5-6 ripe bananas
425 ml / ¾ pint of double cream
1 teaspoon of instant coffee
1 dessertspoon of caster sugar
A pinch of ground coffee
Carefully spread the toffee over the pastry base.
Peel and split the bananas lengthways and arrange them on top of the toffee,
(see how they fit the curve of the pastry - that’s why God made bananas curved).
Whip the cream with the instant coffee (if they are granules they will dissolve as you whip the cream) and the sugar until it just holds its shape - take care not to over whip it.
Spread the cream over the bananas right up to the pastry edge then sprinkle sparingly with the ground coffee.
If you are not serving it immediately cover first with some baking parchment or greaseproof paper directly onto the cream and trim the edges then wrap in cling film.
It does not lend itself to being frozen.

Only one variation is acceptable as far as I am concerned and this is ‘Apploffi’.
Replace the bananas with a layer of cooked apple puree made using a mixture of Bramley’s and Cox’s apples cooked in a little orange juice with some Muscovado sugar, then cooled. This version cuts the richness of the toffee and cream nicely.

ABOUT BOILING THE CANS OF CONDENSED MILK


Find a deep saucepan or casserole that will go in the oven.
Put into it as many tins as will fit. (THE TINS MUST BE UNOPENED).
Cover the tins with water and bring to the boil.
Cover with a lid and transfer to the oven set to gas mark 1 / 140 C (less for fan assisted).
Cook for 3 ½ hours.
This way there is no danger of the water boiling dry and being in a more controlled temperature you get a more consistent result.
Lift the cans from the water, cool and store.
An unusual bonus comes from storing these tins over a period. After some months sugar crystals begin to form in the toffee and you get crunchy banoffi - mmmmm.
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