Banoffee Pie - My March bake posted late!

Mary Berry's BANOFFEE PIE

 I totally made this pie in the month of March and I have been dragging my feet to post.  Maybe because I didn't love the way it turned out! Actually, it was really delicious I just cooked the filling too long and it made it a bit difficult to eat.  There were several lessons learned and some day I will make it again and hope for the best.

I had my eye on this pie for a while.  Mary Berry is one of the first to be associated with the Great British Baking Show and is a master baker, so I decided I would use her recipe. Basically, it's a graham cracker crust with a toffee filling, topped with bananas and whipped cream.  The concept is brilliant-my execution, not so much. 

I started with a graham cracker crust in a tart pan so I could remove the outer rim.  

The filling is a mixture of brown sugar, butter and sweetened condensed milk.  What could be better than that? 

Top with a double layer of sliced bananas - I did my bananas last minute but if you have several hours before serving the pie, slice them into lemon juice so they don't turn brown.  Add plenty of sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  Serve and Enjoy!

Now for the lessons that I learned.

*First, the recipe doesn't call for enough butter in the graham cracker crust.  It fell apart all over the place so next time I try this pie, I will add more butter to hold the crust together.

You can see what a mess the crust was!

*Second, the recipe said to cook the filling, once it comes to a boil, for 5 minutes OR until it is a nice toffee color.  Well, after 5 minutes, my filling was pretty pale and not the color of what I think toffee is, so I continued to cook it. Don't do that! Next time, I will stick to the 5 minutes and we'll see if that works better.

It was tasty-but super chewy and hard to cute.  I just want a creamy, yummy, eat with a fork, kind of pie (Literally, after it sat in the fridge, you had to pick it up and bite it rather than using a fork)

So that's the story of this Banoffee Pie! Will I make it again? Yes, but with the tweaks to the crust and cook time.  If you try it, you'll like it.  Good luck!

BANOFFEE PIE

For the base
175g (6oz) digestive biscuits (graham crackers)
65g (2½oz) butter (add a bit more)

For the toffee filling
115g (4oz) butter
115g (4oz) light muscovado sugar (brown sugar)
2 x 397g cans full-fat condensed milk

For the topping
3 bananas, sliced
a little fresh lemon juice
300ml (½ pint) double cream
a little grated Belgian milk or dark chocolate, for sprinkling

You will need a 23cm (9in) deep loose-bottomed fluted flan tin.

To make the base, put the biscuits (graham crackers) into a polythene bag and crush them to crumbs with a rolling pin. Melt the butter in a small pan, remove from the heat and stir in the crushed biscuits. Mix well.

Spread the mixture over the base and sides of the flan tin. Press the mixture with the back of a metal spoon. Place in the refrigerator

To make the toffee filling, measure the butter and sugar into a large non-stick pan. Heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Add the condensed milk and bring to an easy boil, stirring continuously and evenly with a flat-ended wooden spoon for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and has turned a golden toffee colour – take care, as it burns easily. Turn it into the prepared crumb crust and leave to cool and set. (stick with the 5 minutes)

To make the topping, toss the bananas in lemon juice and arrange the slices over the toffee in a neat layer. Lightly whip the double cream until it forms soft peaks and spread evenly over the bananas. Sprinkle the whole pie with grated chocolate.

Remove the ring and transfer to a flat plate.

Serve well chilled.