Banoffee Pie

Assalamualaikum

The first week of each semester would be one of the craziest times for everybody. Buying/selling textbook online, lining up in the bookstore, fighting over spots in class, being disappointed with “interesting” courses taught by uber boring professors who talks to the blackboard or even plain confused with which courses to take. Breathe...

It’s so cold in Montreal. I have yet to remind myself to wear gloves everytime I leave the house. It is usually -10 and below. Today is -20ish.Brrr… Temperature fluctuations are something we learn to expect while living in Montreal. You know what this means….SLUSHIES on the road, SLUSHIES on the stairs, SLUSHIES on your pants, SLUSHIES everywhere. I’m wearing my winterboots and STILL have problem walking up the hill. The hike up to McIntyre building is incredibly dangerous. Walking like a penguin would be a good option to avoid from slipping and breaking your hips. So flattering and attractive. NOT.

Enough about the cold weather, let’s move along to something more exciting shall we?

Let’s talk about Banoffee Pies. Banoffee pies are basically pies with either graham cracker crust or flour based crust topped with a layer of creamy caramel, sliced bananas and topped with a generous amount of whipped cream. Even the word Divine would not do any justice to this dessert. Last time I made it was with my sister a few years back. I remember that we were so excited that she even bought canned caramel and brought it back to Malaysia. We were extremely determined and driven when it comes to food.

A month or two back, my other sister made Jamie Oliver’s version of Banoffe Pie and forwarded the recipe to me. Like any other normal dessert junkie, I made one myself. Especially when the grocery decided to have sale on whipped cream. It’s a calling I tell ya…

A calling that is worth answering…every single bite was a taste of heaven. Yes..I am fasting while writing this post.=)

Original recipe from here.

Banoffee Pie

1 store bought graham cracker crust

3 ½ - 4 bananas

100 ml milk

4 tablespoon sugar

300 ml cream

1 tablespoon coffee

Chocolate chips or shaved chocolate for topping (optional)

1. In a bowl, place 3 peeled bananas with the milk and mash until well combined
2. In a pan over high heat melt the caster sugar. Don’t stir it, just gently tilt as it melts and darkens in colour
3. Add the banana milk mixture to the toffee and stir until well incorporated
4. Pour into the pie crust and freeze for 20 minutes (in this -20 degrees and below weather, you could simply put on your windowsill =P)
5. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Using a spatula/spoon, fold in the coffee.
6. Slice the remaining banana.
7. Take out the frozen pie crust and arrange the sliced banana on top of the toffee mixture.
8. Cover the whole pie with the whipped cream.
9. Garnish with shaved chocolate or chocolate chips

One of my first ever kitchen adventure was when I was 17. I tried making kuih raya. In the recipe book it says coffee, and guess what I did? I put coffee POWDER instead of the drinking coffee. My poor friend had to eat some and the rest was thrown out! bleargh. So yes people, when a recipe says coffee…it means the coffee MIXTURE that you drink for breakfast not coffee POWDER.

Store bought crust.Too lazy to make my own...

This is how thick the snow is on my balcony!

Bananas......

Whipped Cream...

Chocolate bits.....

Bliss 

 Banoffee pie is extremely delicious AND filling. Because of its sweetness and creaminess, you can get sick of it really quickly. Not me though.=) The function of the coffee mixture is to give the whipped cream an extra kick.

Talking about kicks, Trish and I enrolled ourselves in a kickboxing class. Twice a week. Stairs are my enemies now. My thigh HURTS!Rawr.

 

Stay warm Montrealites!

Wasalam

Till then,

Love,

Sofhan Hasni.