Banoffee Pie

Ingredients

• 200g digestive biscuits, crushed
• 100g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk
• 100g light brown sugar
• 50g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 3 ripe bananas, sliced
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 300ml double cream
• 25g icing sugar
• 25g dark chocolate, for shaving

Method

1. Stir the crushed digestives into the melted butter with a pinch of salt — the salt sharpens the caramel later and stops the base tasting one-note sweet. Work the crumbs until they hold together when pressed between your fingers; if they crumble apart, the butter hasn't coated them properly.
2. Tip into a 23cm loose-bottom tin and press firmly into the base and up the sides with the back of a spoon. Push hard — a loose base will collapse the moment you cut. Chill for 10 minutes until set firm.
3. Put the condensed milk, light brown sugar, butter and golden syrup in a heavy-based pan over a low heat. Stir constantly until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, then bring to a gentle bubble. Rushing the heat here scorches the milk solids on the base of the pan and the toffee turns bitter — keep it low and keep the spoon moving.
4. Simmer for 5–8 minutes, stirring all the time, until thick, glossy and a deep caramel colour. It's ready when it coats the back of a spoon and pulls away from the base of the pan when you drag through it. Taste a cooled smear — it should taste of butterscotch with a faint salt edge; if it's cloying, add another small pinch of salt to lift it.
5. Let the toffee cool for 2–3 minutes — pouring it boiling hot will melt the butter back out of the base — then pour over the chilled base and spread to the edges. Leave until just set but still a touch soft, around 20 minutes.
6. Toss the sliced bananas with the lemon juice to stop them browning, then arrange in a single overlapping layer over the toffee so they sink slightly into the caramel. The lemon juice does double work here — it holds the colour and cuts through the sweetness underneath.
7. Whip the double cream with the icing sugar to soft, billowing peaks. Stop the moment it holds its shape — another ten seconds and you're into stiff, grainy territory you can't come back from. Spoon or pipe generously over the bananas in soft swooshes, leaving a thick cloud right to the edges.
8. Shave the dark chocolate over the top in curls, chill for 15–20 minutes to firm up for slicing, then cut with a hot knife straight through the crisp base, sticky toffee, sliced banana and pillowy cream.