PIE CRUST

1. I like to make my pie crust the night before or at least 2 hours before to give it time to rest.
2. Once the dough has rested, unwrap the disc and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to 1/4” (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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

SALTED CARAMEL PASTRY CREAM FILLING

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. Store leftovers in the fridge.