As mentioned, guest post (not hard to tell due to the very different writing styles!). The first of many I hope, as that also means I get to taste the delights of sugar, chocolate a buttery goodness before deciding what is worth writing about!
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With winter here it is the perfect opportunity to make the ultimate comfort food: a scrumptious banoffee pie! That is a buttery biscuit base covered in caramel and banana slices topped with cream.
I began by crushing a pack of hobnobs placed in a sealed bag with a rolling pin. A fun way to release any pent up anger! I then combined the biscuit crumbs with melted butter, pressed the mixture into a cake tin with a removable base and after placing it on a baking sheet, cooked it in the oven for 10 minutes.
So far so good...
Now after allowing the lightly toasted mixture to cool I was supposed to gently release it from the tin, instead I choose to throw it on to the plate. Result: the biscuit base shatters and with it my dreams of producing a perfect banoffee pie.
But of course I won’t be beaten. The only option was to break up the base into crumbs, press it into the tin and cook in the oven again. Once it had set for the second time, I decided to leave the biscuit base on the base of the cake tin so it would not crumble and not risk making the same mistake again.
OK so disaster adverted for now...
Next it was time to make the caramel. Easier said than done. I needed to use a tin of condensed milk to make this. It soon became apparent to me that there was no ring pull to open the tin so a tin opener would have to be used – something, I, a recent university graduate, had never done before.
I rang around for advice on how to use a tin opener (I have no shame) and even tried to get Google to help me but still I was unable to get the tin open. A corkscrew, a knife and scissors were also tried to get the tin open but still no joy.
Eventually I managed to cut a hole in the tin using the tin opener and was then able to pour the milk out through this hole. Success! Unfortunately, an hour had now passed. Clearly I am embarrassed at my ineptitude and I realise this inability to use a tin opener probably technically makes me retarded.
Anyway now I could actually make the caramel by stirring butter and brown sugar on a medium heat then adding the condensed milk and stirring continuously until the first bubbles appeared, removing from the heat once it came to the boil. The caramel was then spread over the top of the biscuit base and chilled for an hour. Sliced bananas were then arranged evenly over the caramel.
We are getting there... Remember, you cannot rush perfection.
The last stage was to make the cream. I decided to add a little twist here and make a marbled chocolate cream as I did not think the banoffee pie was sickening enough yet. This was done by whipping together double cream and icing sugar until soft peaks are formed then adding melted milk chocolate with a spoon to create a marble effect. The chocolate cream is then placed on top of the caramel and sliced bananas.
Adam’s Banoffee Pie. Done.
Verdict: Not bad for my first attempt at a banoffee pie. It did not look hugely appetising but looks can be deceiving as the taste was pretty good. The biscuit base was a little too crumbly for my liking but we know where that went wrong. The caramel was definitely toffetastic and worked well with the biscuit and bananas. The milk chocolate cream was probably a bit too much but it was meant to be comfort food so I can be forgiven for that. Tasters seemed to enjoy it - “très bien” was one response, “j’aime” another and “j’adore” a third but most importantly I have now been shown how to use a tin opener. Now the world is my oyster...
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