I haven't been active in posting my recipes since about two months, owing to the constant activities that have kept me busy both on the professional as well as personal front of life and guess what i'm engaged, hence i decided to share the recipe that expresses the emotion of comfort decked up on a beautiful stage, the analogy drawn here is to the various components I've used to enhance my most favourite comfort dessert the banoffee pie, I'm a fan of all the independent components that go into making a banoffee each one has a distinct flavour and texture and the combination together is just heavenly, don't you all agree??? Although my religious routine of watching Masterchef Australia has taught me various skills that I wasn't friendly with earlier perhaps, but eventually with practice I've got the hang of a couple of them. I have tried to give the classic banoffee a make over by smoking its crumb with brandy, adding cinnamon to the toffee sauce, plating it with a white chocolate chilly ganache and honey comb.
INGREDIENTS:
For the crust :
- 5 digestive cookies (crumbed)
- 2-3 Tbsp butter (salted/unsalted) as per preference, the butter should be just enough to moisten the digestive cooke crumb, so that when you press it the pie mould
- 1/2 cup brandy
For the toffee:
I usually make the toffee, by slow cooking the contended milk tin in simmer water, the can should be immersed in water at all times this method takes 5-6 hours.
For the instant toffee:
- 30 gms brown sugar
- 30 gms butter
- 103 gms condensed mik.
- A pinch of cinnamon or sea salt
- Whipping cream
- 1 banana
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- 3/4 tsp soda bi-carbonate
- 50 gms white chocolate, finely chopped/ shreaded
- 45 gms cream
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- red food colouring
METHOD:
- Blitz the biscuits in a food processor to a coarse crumb texture.
- To smoke the crumb, add 1/2 cup of brandy in a wok, place a bamboo steamer over the wok on low flame , keep the crumb on a foil in the bundle and cover it and let it sit for 8-10 minutes.
- Keep the smoked crumb in the oven to lose any moisture if it has absorbed, for 2 minutes on 150 degrees in a preheated oven.
- Add the butter to the crumb, and mix well, press the crumb mixture in a greased pie tin, to 1/2 an inch thickness. Allow it to set in the fridge.
- FOR THE TOFFEE SAUCE: In a heavy bottomed pan, on low heat, add the butter and sugar until the sugar melts, add in the condensed milk and whisk until it reaches a golden brown colour, remove it from heat and add the cinnamon to it.
- FOR THE HONEY COMB: Mix the syrup and sugar in the pan , before putting it on flame, Again in a heavy bottomed pan on low heat, allow the mixture to heat, for about 2-3 minutes till it starts bubbling, mix in the soda bi-carb and whisk it, the mixture will look like an erupting volcano, pour this hot mixture into a greased baking tray lined with reusable parchment paper. or just grease the tin well so that it is easy to use the honeycomb.
- FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE: Simmer the cream on low heat , until the edges have small bubbles forming. mix this into the white chocolate and whisk until smooth, mix in the chilli and food colouring, Pour it in a sauce dispenser and cool it in the refrigerator.
- ASSEMBLING THE PIE: De-mould the crust, spoon in a layer of the toffee sauce, slice the banana and arrange it over the toffee sauce, top it with whipped cream and plate the accompaniments as you like.
