Banoffee Pie
This is the first in a series of photos of past kitchen mischief as meted out in the Big Chef Test Kitchen. I’d never previously made a banoffee pie, but it sounded like a fantastic idea, especially when my friend Andy expounded upon the glories of using HobNobs in crust rather than the graham crackers so often favored in the US. I’d never made a HobNob crust before, either, but decided it was definitely time that I do so.
Now, I should mention here that Chef Ian Dowding, creator of ‘banoffi pie’, isn’t terribly fond of biscuit crusts. Still, in most first-hand descriptions I had from friends about this pie, the HobNobs were the first things mentioned. Therefore, my first attempt also utilized this particular construction material for its crust.
The result? Unbelievable. Clouds of freshly whipped cream (and in this photo, the whipping was all done by hand, as my mixer had recently met with an untimely and unfortunate demise) neatly covered the bananas and the condensed-milk toffee, and shards of dark chocolate were grated and sprinkled lovingly over the top—all over that delectable HobNob crust.
This created the result everyone hopes for when they bring food to a family gathering: it was mentioned with fondness days later. There was also very little left at the end of the night, though I should add that the leftovers are of course quite nice if kept refrigerated.
Janaki
