Banoffee Pie

This dessert was served to us in our early months of being in Ireland by Daragh, a great guy, one of the engineers Paul works with. He made it in honor of our visit, as Americans; it was offered up as an 'American Dessert,' however, we had never heard of it before. Perhaps some of you have? Well, so far in Ireland, we've discovered this to be a classic Irish dessert on menus all over the place! It is fabulous!...and not surprisingly, it is so simple, it just may remind you of something else you've had before... This is exactly as he gave it to us, and I'm sure you can guess what cling-film is...;-). Enjoy!!

Banoffee Pie
(Rhapsody on a theme of Sue Cullinane)

1xtin condensed full cream sweetened milk
3oz butter
8oz digestive biscuits (about 4 bikkies less than a full pack of Hobnobs-like graham crackers)
4-6 bananas, depending on size
Juice of ½ lemon
1 medium sized carton double cream (or whipping cream)
A few drops of vanilla essence
Grated, dark chocolate (100g bar)
Toasted almond flakes

Put the unopened tin of condensed milk into a saucepan, keep covered with water, and simmer for 3 hours [for future recipes, you can do this with as many condensed milk cans as will fit into the pan, use the one for the recipe, then store the rest until you're ready to use them].

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a gentle heat. Crush the biscuits into fine crumbs (put them in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin). Add the crushed biscuits to the butter and mix well. Line the base of the tin with the biscuit mix, pat down and smooth with the back of a spoon. Leave to set in the fridge for at least an hour.

Open the tin of milk and be amazed as toffee emerges from within. Spread the toffee over the biscuit base, using the back of a spoon. If the toffee is too sticky, wet the spoon with water.
Slice the bananas into a bowl, squeeze some lemon juice over them, and toss. Arrange the banana slices on top of the toffee.

Whip the cream and add the vanilla essence. Spread over the bananas.

Sprinkle the cream with grated chocolate and toasted almond flakes.

Cover with cling-film (or whatever comes to hand) and leave to chill in the fridge (it’s fine to leave it overnight if you need to).

Eat and be happy :>)