Banoffee Pie
“A British classic....a banoffee pie is such wonderful comfort food. This pie is so healthy and simple to make. Perfect for a dinner party as you can make the base and cream ahead of time and simply compile when you are ready to serve it. As this is semi-raw you should serve modest slices so you and your guests don’t get too full. You can always come back for seconds!”
Prep time - 60 minutes (plus 2 hours freeze time)
Cook time - 0 minutes
Difficulty - Medium
Serves/makes - Makes 1 cake
Base Ingredients
80g walnuts
80g almonds
50g soft dates, stone removed (if they are not very soft soak in warm water for 30 minutes)
1T cacao butter, melted
Toffee Ingredients
1 cup cashews, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
100g soft dates, stones removed, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
1/2 cup date water (reserved from soaking the dates)
1/4t salted caramel flavouring (optional)
2T cacao butter, melted
Cream Ingredients
1/2c dairy-free sugar-free yoghurt
250g thick coconut yoghurt, such as CoYo
2T coconut sugar
For the topping -
2-3 bananas, cut into 1cm slices
Ground cacao nibs (I grind mine in the chopper attachment of a handblender, you can also use a pestle and mortar)
Base Method
Line the bottom of a 20cm / 8 inch with baking paper
Using the chopper attachment of a hand blender, or a food processor, grind the walnuts and almonds. You want them to be as fine as possible as this create a firmer base.
Add the 50g dates and blend again.
Remove the blade, add the 1T cacao butter and mix well with a spoon. This is the glue that will hold the base together. So it is better to use a spoon, rather than the blender, to mix it in.
Pour this into the tin, flatten out and press firmly. I use a potato masher for this, you can use the back of a spoon if you don't have a potato masher.
Toffee Method
For the toffee simply blend the cashews, 100g dates, date water and flavouring until smooth. I use a hand blender for this but you could also use a high speed jug blender or Nutribullet-type blender.
Add the 2T cacao butter and mix in very well, pour this onto the base and chill in the freezer for at least 1 hour but no more than 4.
Cream Method
To make the cream simply mix the coconut yoghurt, dairy free yoghurt and coconut sugar. You can chill this in the fridge until you are ready to serve the pie.
Once the pie base is frozen (this should take around 1 hour) remove it from the base and put it onto a serving plate. Top with the cream, bananas and cacao nibs. We also decorated ours with dried hibiscus flowers.