Banoffee Pie

Today is the Queen's Birthday holiday in Western Australia, and it seems fitting that I mark the occasion with the final post in my baking series to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, aka the Jubilation series.  I'm finishing with the great English classic from the 1970s - Banoffee Pie.

The first time I ever heard of Banoffee Pie was in the movie "Love Actually" when Juliet, the character played by Keira Knightley, knocks on Mark, the art gallery owner's, front door, and asks "Banoffee pie?"  You see a tantalisingly short glimpse of a slice of pie in a white box, but the pie isn't mentioned or seen again.  Over the years, I've often thought of that Banoffee Pie and wondered what it is.  And today is the day I found out.  

The pie was created in 1972 by the chef at The Hungry Monk restaurant in East Sussex.  The word  "banoffee" is a combination of the words banana, toffee and coffee to reflect the original ingredients of banana, soft caramel toffee (made from boiling cans of sweetened condensed milk), and coffee flavoured whipped cream.

I've gone semi-traditional with this recipe. Rather than boiling cans of sweetened condensed milk for 3 hours, I've made the dulce de leche, another first for me, using the oven method.  In the process, I've discovered that dulce de leche would make the perfect break-up food. It's gooey, sweet and comforting, but should only be eaten in small quantities otherwise you'll end up feeling a bit sick and a bit sad.

I also haven't flavoured the whipped cream.  The coffee on top of all that sweetness would have made my head, actually anyone's head, explode. Instead, I've decorated the top of the pie with a Flake.

Banoffee Pie

Pastry

250g plain flour
100g unsalted butter, softened
100g pure icing sugar, sifted
2 eggs
pinch salt

Dulce de Leche

2 x 395g cans of sweetened condensed milk

Filling

1 quantity of dulce de leche
2 medium bananas
juice of 1 lemon
600ml thickened cream
1 Cadbury Flake bar

Method

Make the dulce de leche first. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees celsius   Pour the sweetened condensed milk into an ovenproof dish and cover tightly with foil.  Put the dish into a roasting pan and fill with hot water until half way up the dish.

Place in the oven for an hour and a half, checking the water level every 40 or so minutes and topping up, if required.  (I used one can at a time as my baking dish wasn't big enough so the cooking time may change if you use both cans at once).  The dulce de leche is ready when it has an overall caramel appearance. Take the dish out of the water and whip the dulce de leche until smooth.  Cool and then store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.

Make the pastry by putting the flour, icing sugar, salt and butter into a food processor and pulsing lightly until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the eggs one at a time and pulse until combined.  The dough will come away from the sides and form a ball.  When it does this, stop, and tip the contents onto a floured surface.  Form the dough into a disc shape and refrigerate for an hour.  Take the dough out of the fridge and roll out flat.  Gently lift it into a tart tin, and refrigerate for at least an hour.  When ready, blind bake the pastry shell at 180 degrees celsius for 20 minutes.  Remove the pastry weights, and bake for another 15 minutes or until golden brown.

When the pastry shell has cooled, you can start putting the pie together. First, spread the dulce de leche into the tart tin.

Cut the bananas into thin slices and toss them in the lemon juice.   Top the dulce de leche with the bananas.

Whip the cream to soft peaks and spread over the bananas.  Crumble a Flake over the top.

This is such a Seventies dessert, and someone in the UK probably ate it in 1977 to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee.  You can just see batwing sleeves with every mouthful.

Custard Tart

My Mum was a big believer in the after-school snack.  When my brother and I got home from school, there was always something tasty waiting for us, either homemade or otherwise.  The otherwise usually came from the deli at the end of our street, which stocked iced buns, custard tarts, vanilla slices and 'dutch' cakes (spiced ginger cake on a pastry base decorated with pink icing).  I think my Mum was one of their best customers.

Even though I consumed quite a lot of custard tarts as a child, I have never had one as an adult.  I've certainly had versions of the custard tart, such as lemon and lime brulee tart, but its been decades since I've tasted a pure, unadulterated baked custard tart with nutmeg sprinkled on top.  I'm about to right that wrong. 

As I don't have a tried and true recipe, I did some research and discovered there are several different approaches to making a custard tart.  Some recipes use cream, others use milk, and some use half cream and half milk, and sometimes the milk/cream is heated beforehand.  The quantity of sugar varies, as do cooking times and oven temperatures. What to do, what to do?  I decided to use a sweet pastry recipe I know well for the tart base, and was inspired by a number of other recipes for the filling. 

Custard Tart

Sweet Pastry

100g caster sugar
200g unsalted butter
300g plain flour
1 egg

Filling

3 eggs
600ml whipping cream
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
nutmeg for sprinkling

To make the pastry, ensure the butter and egg are at room temperature before you start.  Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

Add the egg, and mix until well combined.  Add the flour and mix gently until just combined.  Tip the dough onto a floured surface and bring the mixture together gently until smooth.  It is important not to overwork the dough at any stage during the process otherwise it will lose its delicacy. 

Pat the dough into a disc shape (so that it is easier to roll out afterwards), wrap in cling film and refrigerate until firm.  I like to make my dough the night before so it is very well chilled before use. 

Roll out the dough on a floured surface and then press it into a deep pie tin.  I used a 24cm fluted tin, which was probably a bit too big as there ended up being too much of a gap between the custard filling and the top of the tart.  However, if there is too much 'edge', this can be trimmed off before serving.

Refrigerate the tart shell until firm.  There will be some dough leftover.  Keep this, as you can use it to plug any cracks in the pastry shell after it comes out of the oven.

Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.  Blind-bake the pastry for 10 minutes.  Remove the pastry weights and bake for another 10 minutes until the pastry is golden. 

Reduce the oven temperature to 170 degrees celcius.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence until combined and without making too much froth otherwise this will create lots of bubbles on the surface of the custard.  Pour in the heated cream and whisk gently. Strain the liquid to ensure there are no eggy bits and pour into the tart shell.  Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then remove it and sprinkle the surface evenly with nutmeg. 

Put the tart back in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.  As you can see I am using a pastry edge protector so the edges don't get too brown during the cooking process.

The centre of the tart will be wobbly when you take it out of the oven but, don't panic, as it will set as it cools.  Leave to cool at room temperature for about an hour and then refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Serve with berries or stewed rhubarb.

Fail-safe Pavlova Recipe

Strawberries have started to appear in the shops, which means only one thing in Australia - its Pavlova season!

Pavlova is essentially a giant meringue, with a crusty outside and a marshmallowy inside, and is always decorated with whipped cream and fruit.  Strawberries are a very popular choice, but a tropical topping with kiwi fruit, mango or peaches, and passionfruit is also very popular.  I'm a straight down the line strawberry girl for the everyday pavlova, but on a special occasion, like Christmas, I augment with blueberries and raspberries and drizzle with passionfruit curd.

The origin of the pavlova has been the subject of considerable debate between Australians and New Zealanders, with each claiming the original recipe.  I'm not going to get into that here, except to say that it is a very popular dessert in both countries.  Everyone does agree that the dessert was named after the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova.  I used to have a Russian Blue cat called Pavlova, but that is a whole other story. 

Pavlova is quick and easy to make, and especially satisfies the sweet tooth in any family.  You can also make the recipe gluten-free by using a gluten-free cornflour. 

Here is my fail-safe pavlova recipe.

Pavlova

4 egg whites
a pinch of salt
225g caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp white wine vinegar
600ml thickened cream
fruit to decorate

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees celsius.

Line a baking sheet with baking paper.  Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, then gradually add the sugar one dessertspoon at a time until thick and glossy.  To test if all the sugar has been dissolved, dab an index finger in the mixture and rub against your thumb.  If you can still feel grains of sugar, you need to keep whisking. 

Add the cornflour, vanilla essence and white wine vinegar into the mixture and mix until dissolved.  By the way, I have tried using vanilla extract, but the meringue ends up looking a little too brown.  What you are trying to achieve is a glossy, snowy finish. 
Spoon the mixture onto the lined baking tray and then shape into a circle, smoothing the sides as you go.

I prefer to create a high meringue, as it looks nicer when you cut the pavlova into slices, but this means there is less room to decorate the top.  If you like a lot of fruit, then create a flatter disc. 

Bake the meringue in the oven for about an hour.  Let the meringue cool on the tray.  The middle will crack and sink a little bit, but don't be alarmed as you can fill this up with cream.

When cool, carefully peel off the baking paper and place on a large serving plate.  Decorate with an enormous amount of whipped cream, and your fruit of choice.  Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Shortcut Dobos Torte Recipe

I was really lucky growing up as I had a Mum who loved to bake. She was always in the kitchen making some tasty treat or a delicious dessert.  And best of all, she allowed me to help.  I learnt all the foundations of baking from watching and helping my mother.  I learned to measure ingredients precisely, to have a light touch when making scones and pastry, to fold egg whites delicately, to melt chocolate gently over heat, to make sure all the sugar dissolves when creaming butter and making meringue, to be vigilant about baking times, and to let things cool properly.  These lessons have served me well over the years and my baking failures have usually been the result of not following one of these rules.

My Mum's baking bibles were her little green recipe book containing the recipes she had collected over the years, and the Margaret Fulton Cookbook - a staple in most Australian households in the 1970s, just like the Abba "Arrival" album. 

One of my favourite dessert recipes from her little green recipe book is for Shortcut "Dobsch" torte.

Dobos torte originates from Hungary and is a multi-layered cake filled with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel.  My Mum's version used a pre-bought sponge cut into three layers and filled and coated with a chocolate and whipped cream mixture.  It was always a winner in our family. 

Here is my version, which involves making a cornflour sponge first.  It is less of a shortcut than my Mum's recipe but definitely less complicated than the original.

Shortcut Dobos Torte

Sponge

4 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup cornflour
pinch salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 drops vanilla essence

Filling/Coating

225g dark chocolate
1 tsp black coffee dissolved in 1/4 cup of hot water
2 tbsp brandy
1 and a 1/2 cups of whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.  Grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with unsalted butter and dust with flour.  Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence together on a high speed for at least 10 minutes until thick and fluffy.

Meanwhile sift the cornflour, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda and salt together.   Gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture.  Divide the mixture evenly between the two sandwich tins and smooth the tops.  Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.  You will know the sponges are cooked when they have come away from the sides of the tins, and spring back to the touch. 

Leave the sponges to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a clean tea towel.  When completely cool, wrap the sponges in cling film and put in the freezer until firm (at least 1 hour). 

Cut each sponge into three layers using a serrated knife.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over gently boiling water.  You need to make sure that all the chocolate is melted otherwise little lumps with show up in the chocolate cream.  Add the coffee to the melted chocolate and stir until smooth.  Stir in the brandy.  Set the chocolate aside to cool.  Whip the cream until soft peaks form and then fold in the cooled chocolate.

Using a palette knife, spread each layer generously with chocolate cream and then put the layers together.  Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining chocolate cream.  Chill the cake in the fridge for several hours until firm.  Serves 12 if you like small pieces, or 8 if you love to eat cake!