This is a twist on the traditional banoffee pie, using a blind baked pie crust, a salted caramel pastry cream, fresh bananas, and vanilla bean whipped cream.
Banoffee Pie
Hi hi! We just got back from New Zealand on Monday night, and the Jet Lag is REAL. My number one rule to avoid being awake at super weird times is NO NAPPING. I was doing so well the day after we got back, until I made a critical error and fell asleep on the couch RIGHT at bed time, and now everything is all weird and my body thinks it’s ok to be awake until all hours of the night and then not want to wake up in the morning because it thinks it’s still night time. Oh dear.
I made this Banoffee Pie with great intentions of doing loads of work while we were home and sharing it with you then, but then life got in the way and we had the best time on holiday and I just didn’t get around to it, so here we are now! It is a slightly different variation on the Banoffee Pie, which is named what it is after the banana toffee filling. Traditional Banoffee Pie has a graham cracker crust, a caramel or dulce de leche filling, then a layer of bananas and cream. I kept all the elements mainly the same, but chose to go more of a cream pie route with a pie crust, and then a salted caramel pastry cream.
Salted caramel pastry cream is super fun if you haven’t made it before, and is a super delicious variation on a pastry cream - you make a caramel, and then use that in the place of the milk in the pastry cream, which is only a little extra step but leaves you with a silky caramel pastry cream which pairs perfectly with banana and loads of whipped cream. This is so, so good. And I think you will love it. xx
A few wee tips for making Banoffee Pie:
- The pie dough recipe makes a double crust - so enough for two pies. You might as well make the extra while you are at it in my opinion - pie dough freezes well, tightly wrapped, for at least a few months, or lasts a few days in the fridge. Defrost overnight if using from frozen.
- A pie dough trick I learnt from my friend Erin that is now firmly in my repertoire : After you mix the dough and shape it into discs, rest it in the fridge for about an hour, and then roll it out on a floured surface into a rectangle, fold it in thirds like a letter, then roll again and repeat the folding. Then you shape it into a disc by folding the edges under, rewrap tightly in plastic, and rest for at least two hours before using. What this step does is make the dough homogenous and therefore easy to work with, but also adds layers through the rolling and folding - the same way puff pastry is laminated. It is definitely an optional step but from my experience it makes the world of difference when it comes to rolling out the dough and getting a nice even crimp or lattice work.
- When you are par baking your pie crust, chill your crust in the fridge rather than the freezer if you can - a longer chill in the fridge is preferable to a short chill in the freezer
- I like to give this at least a few hours to set up - overnight if you can, otherwise 3-4 minimum. Make sure that the pie is completely cold before you add the cream.
- Whip your cream less than you think so that it is nice to pipe! I like to use a whisk and a bowl rather than a stand mixer so that I have more control.
For more Caramel recipes, check out:
- Banoffee Doughnuts - Brioche Doughnuts with Banana Salted Caramel Ganache and Honeycomb
- Brown Butter Salted Caramel Tart
- Brown Butter Salted Caramel Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Ganache Brioche Doughnuts
- Brown Butter Salted Caramel Popcorn Chocolate Chip Cookies
Made this recipe and love it?
If you made this recipe then I would LOVE for you to leave me a review below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram if you make it!
A note on salt and oven temperature
It is important to note the type of salt that is called for in a recipe. I use Diamond Crystal salt throughout my recipes - if you use a different sort of kosher salt or regular table salt you will need to adjust accordingly as some salt is 'saltier' than others. Morton's salt is twice as salty, so you will need half the quantity. Same goes for a regular table salt. I am working to get gram measurements throughout my recipes for salt but still getting there.
All oven temperatures are conventional unless otherwise stated. If you are baking on fan / convection, you will need to adjust the temperature. An oven thermometer is a great investment to ensure that your oven is the correct temperature.
Using the double / triple function in the recipe card
You will notice that there is a '1X' '2X' '3X' button in my recipe card. This can be used for doubling or tripling a recipe. However, please note that this only doubles the ingredient quantities in the ingredients list and NOT in the method. If there are quantities or pan sizes in the method of the recipe (for example weigh out 150g brown butter), you will need to scale this number manually. It will also not change the baking time in the recipe so you will need to adjust this yourself too. It is always a good idea to read through a recipe fully before doubling it just to check this. If you would like to scale this recipe or convert for another pan size, use my calculator!
Tools and equipment
For a list of my go-to tools and equipment, I have a post you can refer to here.
Why is this recipe in grams?
I post my recipes in grams as it is the most accurate way to bake. Cups are not only inaccurate but they vary in volume worldwide. There is no way for me to provide one cup measure that works for everyone. However, posting in weight fixes this issue. If you would like the recipe in cups you are welcome to convert it yourself via google, but please do not ask me to do it for you as I am not comfortable providing a recipe using a method that I have not tested. Baking with a scale is easy, accurate, and also makes cleanup super simple. Here is the scale that I use if you would like a recommendation! Here's to accurate baking!
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Banoffee Pie - Salted Caramel Cream Pie with Bananas and Whipped Cream
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes, plus chilling time
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is a twist on the traditional banoffee pie, using a blind baked pie crust, a salted caramel pastry cream, fresh bananas, and vanilla bean whipped cream.
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 homemade pie crust, shaped into a disc and chilled*
Salted Caramel Pastry Cream
- 290g whole milk
- 195g heavy cream
- 200g Sugar
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 40g cornstarch
- 60g Sugar
- 1 egg
- 60g egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 20g unsalted butter, at room temperature
To Finish
- 2-3 ripe bananas, peeled and cut into coins
- 300g heavy cream
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste, optional
Instructions
PIE CRUST
- I like to make my pie crust the night before or at least 2 hours before to give it time to rest.
- Once the dough has rested, unwrap the disc and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to ¼” (6mm) in thickness, turning the dough 45˚ often as you are rolling to keep it even. You want the circle to be slightly larger than your pie tin. Transfer to a 9” pie tin, and arrange to ensure that the dough is well settled.
- Trim the dough using scissors or a sharp knife, leaving about one inch excess around the edges. Gently tuck the dough under and onto itself, to give you a neat folded edge. Chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, then remove from the fridge and crimp as desired. Dock all over with the tines of a fork, then chill for a further 30 minutes, or freeze for 20 minutes or until solid.
- While the crust is in the fridge, preheat the oven to 425˚f / 220˚c. Cut a piece of parchment slightly larger than the pie dish. Line with the parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans, filling right to the bottom of the crimps.
- Place the pie tin on a baking sheet, and place in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven, remove the parchment paper and beans. Return to the oven and bake for a further 8-10 minutes, until evenly golden.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
SALTED CARAMEL PASTRY CREAM FILLING
- Place the whole milk and cream in a small saucepan, and place over low heat. You do not want to boil the mixture - you just want to warm it so that when it hits the hot caramel, it does not seize.
- Place the first measure of sugar into a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, and place over medium to low heat. Heat, stirring constantly. The sugar will start to form clumps, then begin to melt. Cook until is it amber in colour, then remove from the heat and add the warmed milk and cream mixture, whisking briskly to help it incorporate (it will take a lot of whisking to emulsify in). Set aside briefly while you prepare the egg mixture to make the pastry cream.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the salt, the second measure of sugar and the corn starch, then add the egg, egg yolks and vanilla, and mix well to combine.
- Whisking constantly, add half of the caramel mixture into the egg and cornflour mixture to temper the egg yolks. Whisk briskly for 30 seconds. Transfer the caramel-yolk mixture back to the pot, and return to a medium heat. Whisk constantly until very thick.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, mixing well until totally combined. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes, whisking occasionally. Strain directly into the pie shell, and smooth with an offset spatula. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface of the filling, and chill in the fridge until set, 3-4 hours or overnight.
ASSEMBLY
- Slice the bananas and layer on the surface of the filling. Using either a stand mixer or a whisk and a bowl, whip the cream and vanilla bean paste to medium peaks (you don’t want to take it to the stiff peak stage or you run the risk of splitting it and it not being nice to pipe).
- Transfer the cream to a piping bag fitted with your tip of choice (I used an ateco #869 French Star Tip) and pipe the cream on the top of the pie.
- Store leftovers in the fridge.
Notes
The recipe for homemade pie crust that is linked makes two crusts - this recipe uses one of them. If you need more help with par-baking, ready my post on how to blind bake pie crust
Keywords: Pastry cream, banoffee pie, salted caramel pastry cream, blind baking, pie crust
Comments
This is the most incredible recipe! Have never had a banoffee pie like it. Have tried it both with making the dough and just using store bought when I’ve been in a rush and it’s sooo good! It’s hard not to eat all the pastry cream before putting it in the pie. Thank you for providing such amazing and detailed recipes!
★★★★★
This turned out absolutely incredibly - the caramel pastry cream filling is delicious and worth the effort (not that it's very difficult) over using a straight caramel.
This banoffee pie will definitely be in my regular dessert rotation 🙂
★★★★★