Movie Menu: Love Actually To Me You are Perfect Banoffe Pie

Welcome to the first ever movie menu here at Christina’s Confectionery! With Christmas just a little over a week away I decided to create a recipe for my movie menu that is inspired by one of my favorite Christmas films: Love Actually. This is not your typical holiday film (it’s R-rated for language, sexuality, and nudity so I wouldn’t recommend sitting down with the kiddies to watch this one) it is absolutely wonderful and instills one with both romantic and festive feelings. With a whole lot of humor and equal parts heart, Love Actually is the perfect Christmas movie to watch while you’re cuddled up with your sweetheart eating (hopefully) banoffee pie.

You might be asking yourself what exactly is banoffee pie and what does it have to do with Love Actually? First, we’ll discuss the backstory of the pie in question. The banoffee pie was created in Britain by Nigel Mackenzie. In the year 1971, after an attempt to make an unreliable recipe known as Blum’s Coffee Toffee Pie, Mackenzie (owner of The Hungry Monk Restaurant) and his chef, Ian Dowding, tried several variations of the recipe, tweaking it to perfection. Everything from apples to and oranges was tested. But it wasn’t until the final run, when bananas were as the star ingredient, that the deliciousness that we know as banoffee pie was born.

Now, let us skip forward 32 years into the future. The year is 2003, and Love Actually hits the big screen. One of the most memorable moments of the film involves Keira Knightley’s character (Juliet) showing up at the doorstep of Mark (played by everyone’s favorite zombie slaying sheriff Rick Grimes a.k.a. Andrew Lincoln) with a slice of banoffee pie in an attempt to bribe him. You see, Mark was the best man at her wedding, and she took notice that he filmed much of the event. Juliet hopes that he captured better photography than the actual photographer and what viewers discover next tugs at the heartstrings with a vengeance. (I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen the film but prepare yourselves for an OMG moment.)

Thus, I have taken to my kitchen to invent my own version of this pie that I am calling To me you are Perfect Banoffee Pie. (Once you watch the film you will understand the name.) Normally banoffee pie is made from a crust of what the Brits call “digestives” which is similar to a graham cracker. But I wanted to try something different, and since vanilla wafers pair so wonderfully with banana pudding, I decided to make a vanilla wafer crust. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

The main ingredients of the pie are your typical banoffee pie filling: bananas and toffee made from scratch. But I wanted to add another dimension of flavor to this tasty treat. I, therefore, made a vanilla whipped cream instead of the standard whipped cream topping and I shaved dark chocolate (as opposed to milk chocolate) onto the top of the pie giving it a decadent and flavorful garnish. Be advised, this is a rich dessert, so a little bit goes a long way when you are portioning this pie. So, without further ado may I present the recipe for To me you are Perfect Banoffee Pie.

Ingredients:

Crust:

·         60 vanilla wafer cookies

·         ¼ cup of granulated sugar

·         1/3 cup of melted butter

Filling:

·         3 bananas

·         1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk (I like to use Eagle Brand)

Topping:

·         2 cups of heavy cream

·         2 tablespoons of powdered sugar

·         1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

·         ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar

·         2 squares of dark chocolate, shaved (I like to use Dove dark chocolate squares)

Directions:

1. Place your unwrapped can of sweetened condensed milk in a pot of water. Ensure that it is completely submerged.

2. Boil for 2.5 hours (yes, hours) and be sure that the can remains completely submerged at all time (just add a little water here and there when you notice the water level dropping.)

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4. While the oven is preheating, using a food processors or blender, crush the wafer cookies.

5. Add the melted butter and ¼ cup of sugar and blend until incorporated.

6. Press the mixture into a pie plate and up the sides.

7. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Allow crust to cool before filling.

8. Place sliced bananas in the pie crust.

9. Once the can of sweetened condensed milk has cooled, pour the mixture over the bananas and spread evenly.

10. Beat together all of the ingredients for the vanilla whipped cream.

11. Top the pie with the whipped cream and sprinkle with shaved dark chocolate.

I hope that you and your loved ones enjoy this pie as much and my family and I did. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and I wish all of you a wonderful new year filled with health and happiness. As a bonus here is the trailer for the film that inspired this recipe.