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BANOFFI PIE

Source of Recipe


The Hungrymonk Restaurant, E. Sussex, England






List of Ingredients



• 1 14oz. Can "Eagle Brand" sweetened condensed (not evaporated) milk.
  
• 1 1/2 C. Whipping cream, chilled.
  
• 1 t. Powdered (confectioner's) sugar.
  
• 1 t. Powdered instant coffee. (See note 1)
  
• 1 "Keebler's Ready Crust"(r) preformed and baked shortbread pie crust, 9".
  
• 2 Large, firm, ripe bananas.
  






Instructions



1. Note 1: If your instant coffee is provided as coarse granules, place TWO teaspoons of the granules in a coffee grinder and grind until well powdered. Meaure the amounts for the recipe from this powdered form.
   
   
2. The first step in making this pie is preparing the caramel layer. There are several ways of doing this, but the one I use is not recommended by the Hungrymonk nor Eagle-Brand, so I will take the more labor intensive road . . .
   
   
3. Pour the contents of the can of milk into a three-cup, microwave-proof glass cup. cook in a microwave on 50% power for 2 minutes, slowly whisk until smooth and cook for 2 more minutes at 50% power, and again slowly whisk until smooth.
   
   
4. Reduce the microwave oven power to 30% and cook the milk for 16 minutes, stopping every 4 minutes to slowly whisk until smooth. Finally, cook at 30% for 2 minutes at a time and stirring to smooth, until the caramel is dark colored and as thick as fresh peanut butter. This may take another 4 to 10 minutes. Cover and set aside to cool.
   
   
5. Place the pie crust, a narrow mixing bowl, the whipping cream, and the beaters from your mixer in a freezer for fifteen to twenty minutes.
   
   
6. Remove all from the freezer, pour the cream into the mixing bowl, add the sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of powdered coffee. Beat the mixture until medium stiff peaks are formed, cover and keep chilled until needed.
   
   
7. Adjust the thickness of the carmel to the peanut butter consistancy stirring in a few drops of warm water, if it has become too thick while sitting.
   
   
8. Remove the protective plastic cover from the top of the pie crust, reserving it for later use. Spoon the caramel into the bottom of the crust and use the back of the spoon to smooth it evenly out and over to the sides.
   
   
9. Peel, remove any fiberous strings, and crosscut the bananas into 1/4 inch slices, placing them in two even layers over the top of the caramel.
   
   
10. Spoon the whipped cream evenly over the top of the bananas to leave a layer of at least one inch thick around the edge of the crust and increasing to two inches thick in the middle.
    
    
11. Evenly sprinkle one teaspoon of the remaining powdered coffee through a fine-mesh sieve to decorate the finished whip-cream layer. Cover with the reserved plastic cover and chill until ready to serve.
    
    
12. Cut slices with a small, scalloped-edge knife that has been sightly dampened with fresh water between each slice.
    
    






Final Comments


With the exception of cooking the caramel, which can be done in the cool of a previous evening (and saved a sealed container in the frige for days), this pie can be put togeather in less than fifteen minutes. That's a quick dessert for summer. It is surprisingly unsweet and the multiple layers of texture and flavors meets with everyone's idea of either the final touch to a good meal or a great knosh for an afternoon tea.Since first putting this recipe into our pages we have prepared at least ten of them for friends and parties. We soon discovered that (using a food processor to whip the cream and pre-cooking a double quantity of caramel) we can very easily turn out two fully completed pies in 30 minutes, including clean-up time!