One of my favorite desserts is a Banoffee Pie! In 1972, Ian Dowding and Nigel Mackenzie of The Hungry Monk Restaurant in East Sussex, England, created this Banoffee Pie and I can’t get enough. (You can find their original recipe here on their website.)
Most recipes from the UK use Digestive Biscuits or even better–Hobnobs, neither of which I have on hand. Instead, I opt for using a pat-in-the-pan pastry crust. For Thanksgiving one year I used a graham cracker crust. Really, it doesn’t matter. Whatever crust you use, it will be delicious. After all, it’s the filling that really counts. (In my humble opinion.)
Note: You can see my step-by-step instructions for making dulce de leche here, or head over to see how David Lebovitz makes it the safer way.
Banoffee Pie
Ingredients:
For the dulce de leche:
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (you can double this amount for an extra rich and delicious pie)
For crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick of butter
1 egg yolk
a little cream or milk–may need more or less depending on how the dough holds together.
1 egg white, beaten
For topping and assembly:
3 firm, ripe bananas, sliced
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
a little sugar
bittersweet chocolate curls
Method:
Place the can of milk in a large pan and cover it completely with water. Bring the water to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook the can, turning every so often, and adding more water to cover when needed, for 2 hours. After 2 hours, turn off the heat, let the can of milk cool in the water. When the can is cool enough to touch, remove it from the pan.
Note: You can boil the cans for 3 hours if you would like a darker dulce de leche, but it will be quite a bit thicker when you spread it in the pie dish.
Meanwhile, make the crust:
Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together. Using your hands, a food processor, a pastry cutter, or two knives, work/cut the butter into the dry ingredients. The mixture should look like cornmeal with a few larger lumps of butter.
Break up the egg yolk with a fork and add to the flour/butter mixture. Stir with the fork until the dough comes together in a ball. You may need to add a little cream at this point if it’s too dry.
Don’t overwork the dough or it will become tough. Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge to chill for about 20 minutes.
Pat the crust into a 9″ or 10″ pie or tart plate. Prick all over with a fork and chill for an additional 20 to 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, or until it starts to become lightly golden. Remove from oven and brush the inside with some of the beaten egg white. Return to the oven and finish baking until crust is golden.
Let the crust cool. Spread the dulce de leche on the bottom of the crust. Top with the sliced bananas. Push them down a bit.
Beat the heavy cream and sugar with an electric beater until stiff peaks form. Spread over the banana layer. Top with the chocolate curls. Chill until ready to serve.
Hey Marie and Lindsey! Just wanted to let you know that the link you have in this article isn’t working, but I searched the site and found this http://www.hungrymonk.co.uk/banoffi_pie/ in case you wanted to update it :) The pie looks awesome!
Well, I tried this recipe and it was an epic fail. The toffee came out perfect and it all went together beautifully. Then we went to eat it and it was nothing but soup. What did I do wrong?
I was recently in the country of Gibraltar (off of Spain, but owned by the British) and a small pub there had Banoffee Pie. I didn’t know what it was, so I didn’t order it… but now I wish I had ordered a slice because this looks absolutely scrumptious! Thanks for the recipe!
these are the best my mom makes them cause their her favorite irish dessert!
This is SO good – the recipe was in our newspaper a few years ago and I made it. Since then, I’ve seen cans of actual Dulce de Leche in the Mexican food section of our grocery store. Seems like it would be an easy fix for this recipe…
yum! haven’t heard the name before either, but it looks so good.
A super simple way to make dulce de leche is to break out your pressure cooker. Place the can (or five cans) into the cooker and fill halfway with water. Bring to boiling and cook for 45 minutes. Carefully release the pressure/steam and Viola! Perfectly cooked, safer, and FAST dulce de leche.
I can honestly say I’ve never heard of this before but it sounds, and LOOKS, so yummy. We’ll have to try this at our next family gathering. I think it will be a hit with all of the kids.
I am so ridiculously happy that you posted this recipe! I’ve been looking for a good Banoffee recipe for a while. Can’t wait to try this – it looks amazing!
I have never heard of that pie before but i am majorly intrigued! I’m going to have to make it – it sound so yummy ! Have you ever had a buttermilk pie? It’s a southern thing but soooo good.
Sounds incredible. New to me, but not for long. Thanks
Wow, that sounds (and looks) delicious. Can’t wait to cook some Banoffee pie this weekend now!
I’m a total slut for banoffee pie (Brit in the US). I often make a cheaters version though, using a layer of caramel flavoured pudding mix and a layer of banana flavoured pudding mix with sliced bananas inbetween. Graham cracker base and vanilla essence in some heavy whipping cream all whipped up and spread on top with a bit of grated chocolate on the tippy top. That way there’s no cooking and the kids can help with all the stages of making it. Not very classy, but the kids lick the plates clean. Actually, so do I.
It’s my English hubby’s favourite dessert… I just made this a few days ago! Delicious and really hard to get wrong… HobNob crust is the best, BTW!! Thanks for posting this deliciousness!