Hi Banoffee Pie!

I remember making banoffee pie last year. It wasn't a total success. It tasted good but I didn't cook the caramel the right way; it was too runny and the pie became a mess upon slicing.

Anyway, I made another attempt last Wednesday and I must say it has gotten better.

THE CRUST

For the crust, I used oatmeal and walnuts instead of graham crackers because we have lots of oatmeal here at home. I also have walnuts that I haven't been using. I initially wanted to put chopped walnuts to the caramel layer but that will be difficult to eat with my braces so I decided to crumb and mix it into the oatmeal crust instead. That way, the walnuts will also lend flavor to the not-so-tasty oatmeal crust.

Oatmeal-Walnut Crust

1 cup oats, milled (turned into crumbs)

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and milled (turned into crumbs)

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C.

2. Mix all ingredients together and cut them together using a pastry cutter or two knives or two forks.

3. Press onto the bottom of a nine-inch pie plate.

4. Bake for 8 minutes or until set.

THE CARAMEL

A lot of banoffee pie recipes on the internet use caramel that's made of cooked condensed milk. They submerge a can of condensed milk in a pot of water and set it on the stove for two hours. I didn't want to do that for three reasons: (1) you cannot forget to replace the water in the pot as the can may explode if the water evaporates out, (2) I think cooking for two hours is a waste of gas if I can cook caramel in minutes and (3) I just wanted some homemade caramel.

For the caramel, you can use either of these recipes: ONE or TWO.

BANANAS

I used five bananas. Three would suffice but I like bananas heh heh.

WHIPPED CREAM

I lightly whipped some cream with minimal sugar.

ASSEMBLY

1. Pour caramel onto the cooled crust. Let the caramel cool until it is firm.

2. Arrange sliced bananas on top of the caramel.

3. Pipe or spread some whipped cream.

4. Dust with cocoa powder (optional).

I say it was pretty easy to make and it's not that expensive too!

Achievement unlocked!