Happy St. Patricks Day!
With Irish ancestry, I’ve always enjoyed exploring Celtic culture. I was an Irish Dancer as a child (2 time Canadian champion, doncha know), and I play & teach Celtic fiddle. My wedding included many Irish traditions mixed with Scottish to reflect my husbands ancestry. We even have an Irish Terrior as a pet.
A few years ago, our best friends gave us a recipe book for Christmas called The Irish Pub Cookbook. It’s a fabulous book and we’ve enjoyed a number of dishes from it. One that fascinates yet stumps us remains Banoffe Pie. It’s a toffee-banana pie with really simple ingredients. Pie crust, bananas, and sweetened condensed milk. Easy right?
Well, the first time I made this dessert using the microwave method of making toffee witht condensed milk created a toffee so strong it rivaled Crazy Glue. We took it to my friend Michelle’s house who invited us for dinner. Our host had to get out a chefs knife and a cutting board and broke quite a sweat just slicing this dessert. I’m really surprised I didn’t get any bills for dental work after that night. We’re even still friends!
The second time I made the pie, I tried a different microwave method. This time I served it to my friends who gave us the cookbook. When we cut into the pie, instead of holding it’s shape, it was liquid sugar. It was so liquidy, that after I took out the first piece, alllll the rest of the filling oozed around and I couldn’t even tell where the piece was taken from. Our friend Andrew said he liked it…that the gritty sugar texture was refreshing. Uh huh.
So we’ve been scared to try again, but I refuse to be defeated by inanimate objects. So, to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 2009, we tried again. I called my Mom to get a better method for making the condensed milk into toffee. She instructed me to put the can in simmering water for 4 hours. My husband and I watched this pot obsessively the whole time. We could imagine what an exploded can of toffee might look like in our kitchen. Our Irish Terrier would LOVE it!
Anyway, after 4 hours, we cracked open the can and glopped it out onto my nicely sliced bananas. It didn’t ooze. It didn’t spread. It sorta looked like leftover gravy, 3 days after Thanksgiving. Persevering, I mushed it around as best I could and popped it in the fridge to cool. It looked like a dog’s dinner.
You might not believe me, but it actually tasted terrific! We still don’t think we’ve made it just right. But at least it’s palatable.
And just in case it didn’t work out, I had a backup plan. White cupcakes, with white icing laced with a hint of peppermint. I pipped the green chocolate into 4 leaf clover shapes. THESE were simple and delicious.
I’d be glad to hear if anyone has a great method for Banoffe Pie. And I do recommend the Irish Pub cookbook for other Irish Enthusiasts, even if you’re only green for one day of the year.
