April 13, 2011

Black Bottom Banoffee Pie with a Pretzel Crust…from Fields of Cake

1Featured Pies and Tarts, chocolate, desserts, Recipes 0

Banoffee Pie? With a Black Bottom and Pretzel Crust? Folks…you are in for one heck of a treat today.

banoffee pie

My friend Carrie (a true friend, I love her!) of Fields of Cake has made the most amazing Banoffee Pie for you.

Ah-Maze-Ing.

Of course, I am still away at Culinary Bootcamp, and despite the first day feeling out of sorts, Tuesday was incredible, I felt in my element, and I even forgot I was wearing my silly hat until having my picture taken in it. Baking was my task today, as was making toffee, and I felt good about it. my Chef instructor was even pleased with my work – yay!

Well, I won’t keep you away from this pie any longer. That would be just plain mean.

Enjoy it, and a huge thanks to Carrie for her incredible recipe!

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I am a woman of excess. When it comes to food, if you tell me to make a vanilla cake, I will make a
TRIPLE vanilla cake with brown butter and a vanilla infused brandy sauce to go along with. I’m just not that gal that follows a recipe….or really follows instructions very well.

A few summers back I was introduced to Banoffee Pie. I think it was in an issue of Gourmet or Bon Appetit, not sure which but I knew my husband would love it. Caramels, pie crust, whip cream and fresh bananas….what’s not to love. It was incredibly easy and as per request of my husband….I did not fiddle with the recipe. It was delicious and he loved it. He still loves it.

I like it to but I could see SO many possibilities just screaming out to me, taunting me with their sweet goodness, telling me I NEEDED to fiddle with the recipe, with the components, to make it MINE!

I would run these ideas past my loving, brutally honest husband and each time it was the same…”Don’t jack with a good thing Care…”

But THIS time, he wasn’t eating the pie!! THIS time I had ALL the control and Oh what delicious control it was.

When my amazing friend Susan here asked for help with a blog post and asked specifically for non-healthy I knew it was a call for Super Carrie, queen of the artery clogging sweet treats. (By the way that’s me…It’s a title in progress…I know it needs help) I called her immediately and told her I had the perfect recipe!! Black Bottom Banoffee Pie with a Pretzel Crust. YUM!

Just imagine a slightly salty, slightly sweet, crunch pretzel crust layered with smooth, dark, creamy chocolate ganache, oozy creamy dulce de leche and toffee bits, then top that off with white chocolate whipped cream and fresh bananas! HEAVEN!!!

Now I’m gonna give you a few minutes to go grab a towel to wipe the drool off your computers but
promise me you will come right back for the recipes!! It’s worth it!!

OK, so did you find your drool rag?

Let’s get to it then. I want to start off with the caramel since that needs to be done in advance. I make 4 or 5 cans at a time because they keep forever as long as you don’t open them. I normally call this magic caramel because all you do is boil a can of sweetened condensed milk and it turns into this magically sweet and creamy gooey caramel. It’s awesome.

Magic Caramel

• 2 Cans sweetened condensed milk (in my experience Bordens makes the creamiest smoothest caramel)
That’s it!

Peel the labels off of your cans and place them in a very large pot and cover with water so that it goes at least 2 inches above the cans.

Bring the water to a simmer and cover the pot. Simmer for 4 hours being sure the water never goes
below the top of the can; it should ALWAYS be covering the cans.

Allow to cool in its water bath (I usually do the cooling over night).

Now it’s done! Really, that’s it! Magical right?

Now, on to the crust.

I make mine in a food processor but you can do it the fun way too and just smash the pretzels to bits with a rolling pin and ziploc bag. Totally a matter of preference.

Pretzel Crust

About 3 large handfuls of pretzel sticks (or whatever thin pretzel you have available)
5 Tbsp. softened butter
3 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
¼ tsp. cardamom

Crush the pretzels like your life depended on it until they are nice and fine.

Then mix everything up until it comes together, like a good sandcastle making.

Press into a pie plate and bake at 350 degrees F. for 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven and cool
completely.

Ganache Layer

8 ounces best quality you can afford dark chocolate (I prefer 64%-70%) chopped into ¼ inch
pieces
1 cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp. favorite liqueur (I used buttershots in this instance but be creative and have fun!)

Place chocolate in a medium heat resistant bowl and set aside.

In small heavy sauce pan heat cream just to boiling then pour over chocolate, add salt then allow to sit for a few minutes to soften the chocolate.

Stir mixture with a whisk until smooth and silky.

Add liqueur and whisk until fully incorporated.

Pour into the baked, cooled pie crust.

Place this in the fridge to allow the chocolate to set then top with your magic caramel (I stirred toffee bits into the caramel as well…gilding the lily I am sure, but gild away I say!)

White Chocolate Whipped Cream

6 ounces white chocolate chopped small
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream, divided

In small microwave safe bowl melt chocolate and ½ cup cream until smooth. Set aside and cool to room temperature.

While this is doing its thing, be chilling your mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer to get it NICE and cold.

Pour the remaining cream in the mixing bowl and whisk on high speed until soft peaks form, quickly add the white chocolate mixture and whip until medium peaks form then STOP! It’s done!

Smother your amazing pie with the White Chocolate Whipped Cream then slice bananas on top of that.