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Friday, December 02, 2011

Mini Banoffee Pie

"Make me something decadent" he said,"but not cupcakes,okay?"
It's easy to see that this boy was really pushing his luck.I mean,it really takes guts to demand that I bake you something and then add that they better not be cupcakes!! Hmphff!!
However,life is unfair and he managed to get away with it, ;) and right enough ,three days later,these mini banoffee pies were happily being gobbled up.



These banoffee pies introduced me to something so simple,so amazing,and so unbelieveably addictive:roasted,candied almonds
I first made a test batch of candied almonds the day before I made the banoffee pies,just to try them out.I left them to cool on the silpat and went to watch TV for a while and when I came back they were all gone and my mother was innocently (pretending?) to sleep !! :)
These are so easy to make (and kind of easy to burn too!! so be careful!)
Yes, I know random facts like that.
Anyway, Since Mr. Bake-me-something-decadent was asking I decided to make him something from the Jamie Oliver book he had picked up at a book fair.
I'll give you 3 reasons to make this pie:
1.Dulce de leche .check.
2.Coffee.Check.
3.Those  you-want-to-eat-them-all-the-time almonds.check.
 


Mini Banoffee Pies
 Adapted from Jamies Kitchen-Jamie Oliver

Makes 6

150 gms Whole almonds(blanched or with the skin on)
180gms   Icing sugar

For the shortcrust pastry:
150gms   Flour
50gms     Powdered Sugar
100 gms  Butter

400gms   Dulce De Leche
6             Bananas
300 ml     Double Cream
 1 Tbsp     Instant Coffee Powder+ 1 Tsp Warm water




Method:
1.Preheat the oven to 180oC.Rinse the almonds,Drain them a little and mix them quickly with the icing su
 gar in a bowl until they are really sticky.
2.Place on a baking tray(I recommend you put them on a sheet of silver foil just to make the cleaning easier!!) and toast them for about 15 min, in the oven until they are golden and crispy,turning them every couple of minutes.Keep a close eye on them as they tend to burn pretty easily!!
3.Remove from the oven and allow to cool.



Happily roasting in the oven.

Ta-dah!!




Shortcrust pastry:

1.Sift the Flour and Powdered sugar together.
2.Make sure the butter is absolutely chilled.
3.Quickly pulse the flour mixture along with the butter in a blender,in short pulses. Do not allow the machine to heat at up
4.Once,the mixture resembles the texture of wet sand,empty it out onto a clean work surface and bring it together by adding the chilled water to form a dough. Do not knead it !!!
5. Wrap it in clingwrap and allow it to chill in the fridge for about 20 min.
6.Take out the shortcrust pastry and rool it out to about 1/4 inch thick. Line the mini silicon moulds or loose bottomed mini pie dishes(If the moulds are not silicone,make sure to grease them with a little butter!!).Blind bake the shorcrust cases at 150'C and allow them to cool.

Bring it all together!!!
1.Spread the Dulce de leche as thick as you like across the base of the pastry in each mini pie case.
2.Slice the Bananas and place it on top of the toffee.
3.Whip the chilled double cream,till soft peaks form,and swirl the coffe mixture through it.
4.Dallop the cream on top of the sliced bananas.
5.Finish it with the roasted almonds on top of the banoffee pie and serve immediately!!!





What I like about this,is that it's the perfect thing to make on days when you feel like just pottering around the kitchen. Except for the shortcrust pastry,nothing else in this banoffee pie really needs any measurement and you can add as much or as little or all the different components.
Don't chill the banoffee pie because the dulce de leche will harden and there is a risk of losing a few teeth in the process. :)



This is comfort food.I mean its gooey and its topped with a big dallop of whipped cream.
Plus,it makes people very very happy :)
Next time I think I'll substitue the banana slices with chocolate chunks,or even bits of chocolate chip cookies.
:)









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