Name: Classic Banoffee Pie
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 32 min
Ingredients: For the crust; 7 oz (200 g) digestive biscuits; 7 tbsp (100 g) melted butter; For the filling; 300 to 400 g dulce de leche; 3 ripe bananas; For the topping; 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream; 200 g cream cheese (or 150 g mascarpone); 3 tbsp powdered sugar; 1 tsp vanilla; Shaved chocolate for garnish

The back left burner on my stove still has a faint scorch mark from the last time I tried boiling sugar, which is why I now make banoffee pie instead. You get all the rich flavor of a homemade caramel dessert without ever turning on a burner.

It is just a crumb crust packed with thick dulce de leche, sliced bananas, and whipped cream. The combination sounds almost too sweet on paper, but the salty crust balances everything out.

I still don’t always measure the vanilla when I whip the cream, and I’m definitely not going to start. I just pour it in until it smells right.

The whole thing comes together so fast you’ll wonder why you bothered with fussy custard pies.

Prep: 20 minutes · Cook: 12 minutes · Total: about 3 hours (with cooling) · Serves: 8

How do you keep banoffee pie from going soggy? The trick is cooling the crust completely before adding the dulce de leche layer.

Hot pastry melts the caramel and turns the bottom crust to mush. Slicing the bananas right before you add the cream also stops them from weeping liquid into the filling as it sits in the fridge.

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Ingredients for Banoffee Pie

For the crust
7 oz (200 g) digestive biscuits
7 tbsp (100 g) melted butter
For the filling
300 to 400 g dulce de leche
3 ripe bananas
For the topping
1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
200 g cream cheese (or 150 g mascarpone)
3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Shaved chocolate for garnish

Ingredient Notes

Digestive biscuits are traditional for this crust and offer a savory edge that cuts the sweetness. If you cannot find them in the international aisle at your grocery store, graham crackers work perfectly fine as a substitute.

The dulce de leche should be thick and spreadable straight from the can. You want something with the texture of thick peanut butter so it holds the banana slices in place without turning the pie into a soup when you cut it.

Your heavy cream needs to be as cold as possible before whipping. I often chill the mixing bowl for ten minutes before pouring the cream in to guarantee a thick topping that will not slide right off the bananas.

How to Make Banoffee Pie

Crush the biscuits. Place the digestive biscuits in a heavy zip bag and smash them with a rolling pin. Keep crushing until no large pieces remain and the crumbs look like fine sand, which ensures the crust holds together when sliced.
Form the crust. Mix the finely crushed crumbs with the melted butter in a medium bowl. Press the buttery mixture tightly into the bottom and up the sides of your pan until it forms a solid, even shell.
Bake the shell. Place the dish in a 350°F oven. Cooking Foodie calls for this specific temperature but leaves out the baking time, so I bake it until the edges smell richly toasted, which usually takes about twelve minutes.
Cool it completely. Remove the baked crust from the oven and let it sit at room temperature on a wire rack. Wait until the bottom of the glass dish feels entirely cool to the touch before moving on.
Spread the caramel. Spoon the thick dulce de leche directly onto the cooled crust and smooth it out with a rubber spatula. Stop spreading when you have an even layer that reaches all the way to the crust edges.
Slice the bananas. Cut the three ripe bananas into even rounds just before you plan to layer them. Angela’s recipe reminds us that cutting them early makes them turn brown, so wait until you are ready to arrange them in an even overlapping layer.
Whip the topping. Beat the cold heavy cream, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stop mixing when the cream holds stiff peaks that stand straight up without drooping on the end of your whisk.
Finish the pie. Spoon the whipped cream over the bananas and swirl it gently out to the edges. Neither source gives a chill time, so I refrigerate it until the center feels fully firm, at least two hours.

Make-Ahead and Leftovers

Store any leftover banoffee pie loosely covered in the refrigerator for up to three days. Wrap a piece of plastic loosely over the top of the dish, making sure it does not press down and crush your whipped cream peaks.

The crust will naturally soften a bit on the second day as it absorbs moisture from the caramel, but the flavors actually meld together beautifully. Do not leave this sitting out on the counter during a party for more than two hours because the dairy in the topping will spoil.

Freezing is not a great idea for this dessert. The bananas turn mushy and weep water when they thaw, and the cream topping tends to split and look grainy.

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