Banoffee Pie, the simple way!

Not the best picture, and for that I apologise, however this is the most simple banoffee pie recipe I’ve ever stumbled across. It’s not REALLY a pie as there’s no pastry involved, however the sweet, crunchy base, the gooey banana and caramel centre and the whipped cream topping make this a delicious dessert for any occasion. The best part is, it’s SO EASY to make. It does require a bit of time as you do need to supervise the condensed milk a little, however the assembling stage is very quick and the results are marvellous!

The recipe says this serves 4-6, but I would say at a push you could definitely get 8 servings out of this and the recipe is easy to scale up/down for any sized tin.

INGREDIENTS:

Base:

85g unsalted butter.
200g digestive biscuits, crushed.

Filling:
2 x 400g cans of condensed milk.
4 RIPE bananas.
1 tsp vanilla extract.
75g milk chocolate, grated.
450ml double cream, whipped.

METHOD.

Step 1: Put the UNOPENED cas of condensed milk in the biggest saucepan you own. Add enough water to cover them completely. Bring to the boil and reduce the heat to a simmer - leave to simmer for 2 hours and ensure that you top up the water to keep the cans covered. After two hours, tip the water out of the pan and leave the cans to cool.

Step 2: Preheat the oven to 180/Gas 4 and grease a 23cm/9inch round springform tin or tart tin with a removable base.

Step 3: But the melted butter in a bowl with the crushed digestives and mix well. Press tightly into the base of the tin and up the sides slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the oven then leave to cool in the fridge.

Step 4: Peel and slice the bananas and arrange half on the biscuit base.

Step 5: Spoon over the caramel from the condensed milk cans (this stuff is delicious), then top with the remaining bananas, pushing into the caramel mixture.

Step 6: Top with whipped cream and spingle the chocolate over the top.

Store in the fridge, remove 20 minutes before serving to allow the pie to be at room temperature.

Black Bottom Cupcakes.

These were made from a Hummingbird Bakery recipe. I actually made the pictured cupcake well over a year ago. I remember them being a bit of a faff to make, what with having to make the chocolate cake and the cheesecake filling. However, they are absolutely delicious. With the frosting they are quite sickly, however without it they taste a little dry, at the end of the day, who doesn’t like some chocolatey, sickly goodness in their lives every once in a while?

The recipe for these cupcakes is in the first Hummingbird Bakery cookbook which you can buy online here. It’s an absolute favourite of mine as it’s completely foolproof. I’ve not once had a bad result from this recipe book and I’d certainly reccomend it.

NEWS: Baking Supplies & Upcoming Recipes.

News.

I think I have found a new favourite website for baking supplies. I was on the hunt for some Sugarflair Icing Colouring Paste (the best thing ever invented), so that I can make some red velvet cupcakes that might actually be RED! I found many suppliers but they seemed to be extortionately priced, and then I stumbled upon CakeStuff.com. Their prices are very resonable and they stock a HUGE range of baking supplies and cake decorating equipment. I purchased three colourings, along with some sugar sprinkles and cake glitter. They also have huge ranges for sugarcrafting. I can’t wait for my delivery!

This week I’m planning on updating you with recipes for the following:

• Black Bottomed Cupcakes.
• Banoffee Pie (the easy yet tasty way).
• Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies.
• Chocolate cake with a chocolate caramel ganache.

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes.

I made these a few weeks ago to take in to work and they went down a storm. They’re super gooey in the middle and all come topped with a chocolate orange segment! I found the chocolate cupcake recipe that I adapted these from on BBC Good Food but it seems to have disappeared. These are really easy to make and due to the orange juice in the cakes they stay moist for at least a week (surprisingly, these did last that long)!

Ingredients (makes 12 large cupcakes).

120g Plain Flour.
140g Caster Sugar.
1tsp Baking Powder.
40g Unsalted Butter.
50g Dark Chocolate.
1 Egg.
125ml Milk.
Few drops Valencia Orange flavouring.
Juice of one orange + 3tbsp granulated sugar to drizzle.

Frosting.

125g Butter.
250g Icing Sugar (plus extra to thicken).
2-3 tbsp milk.
50g Milk Chocolate.
Zest of one orange.
Few drops Valencia Orange flavouring.
Chocolate orange segments.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 165 degrees (c), or Gas 3.
Step 2: Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
Step 3: Add the butter and a few drops of orange flavouring. Mix until well combined.
Step 4: In a separate bowl, mix the melted dark chocolate, egg and milk. Add to the dry mixture and whisk until combined.
Step 5: Spoon into cases until 1/3 full and bake for 15-25 minutes until the cakes spring back when touched.
Step 6: Place on a wire rack to cool. When the cakes are lukewarm, mix the juice of one orange with 3tbsp granulated sugar to form a syrup, and spoon over each cake (you probably won’t use all of this).

The Frosting:
Step 1: Cream the butter until perfectly smooth.
Step 2: Add icing sugar and beat until stiff.
Step 3: Add the milk, orange flavouring and melted chocolate, stir until thick, creamy and stiff.
Step 4: Chill the frosting in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. If piping you may want to add more icing sugar and chill for a while longer to ensure it isn’t too runny and holds up well when piped.
Step 5: Spoon or pipe the frosting on to each cake. Top with some curls of orange zest and a segment of chocolate orange.

Mary Berry’s Lemon Tart.

As you all probably know (and if you didn’t, you do now), I am a massive fan of queen baker, Mary Berry. Having watched both series of the Great British Bake Off, making many mental notes along the way I decided to have a go at one of the technical challenges. Obviously, I picked one of my favourite desserts, Tarte Au Citron (but to cause my friend as little distress as possible, we’ll call it Lemon Tart). You can find Mary Berry’s recipe here.

I read the recipe thinking “Oh this doesn’t look to bad”. Then I realised, I do not possess a food processor. Making pastry by hand is a dangerous process and something that actually makes me a little scared (read: terrified), but keeping everything as cold as possible, I decided to take the challenge. It was hard work, and I think my flat mate was worried for my sanity when I put a glass baking board in the fridge and when I started muttering to the pastry, willing it to roll out to the right size without cracking to an unsalvagable state. Here is my result:

I have to be honest and say this picture makes it look better than it really is. My pastry was a little over-worked I think and certainly in the blind bake the outside was cooked significantly more than the bottom. Also it cracked quite a lot around the edges where I think it was a little bit TOO thin. The bottom is clearly not quite evenly baked.

HOWEVER: I avoided the curse of the soggy bottom. I definitely fist-punched the air upon my discovery that, despite a significant amount of the filling leaking through some of the cracks, I had avoided every pastry-maker’s worst nightmare.

I am very pleased with how the filling turned out. When I removed it from the oven it hadn’t cracked OR moved away from the pastry crust. It was firm with a little wobble, aka perfect! The reason why it has cracks now is because I am cack handed and almost threw the whole thing on the floor trying to get it off the tin base and on to a plate. (Honestly, it was a bit hairy for a minute or two there).

Overall, I give myself a 8/10 for effort and about a 6/10 for the final result. I was definitely a bit heavy handed with the icing sugar at the end. I can say, it does taste bloody good. Thanks Mary!

Hello!

Once upon a time I had a food blog about my culinary escapades as a student. Due to the mad decision to train to be a teacher, that blog fell by the way-side. However, by popular (well, two people’s) demand, and the (mental) decision to apply to be a contestant on a popular BBC television series, I am now starting another blog, this time about my favourite hobby, baking!

I am an amateur baker by definition. I haven’t quite mastered the techniques to produce beautiful creations that look too good to eat. Here you’ll find tales of my baking wins and woes, along with favourite recipes/recipe books, and reviews of bakeries in and around London. There may even be an amusing picture or two of me with frosting on my nose and flour in my hair, who knows!

Feel free to ask questions or send general abuse to my ask box. A word of warning, mention Patisserie Valerie to me at your own risk.