Banoffee: a monster in pressing need of improvement.

[mrs quoad]

I probably make a banoffee per week atm, bc my wife loves it, and it’s so catastrophically easy that it just seems a shame not to make one in a spare five mins.

However, there is (IMO) literally nothing good about banoffee. It is absurdly easy. It is tediously flavoured (with nothing but sickly sweet flavours). There is pretty much no such thing as a “bad” banoffee. Which also means that there is pretty much no such thing as a “good” banoffee.

The ready availability of additionally-chemicalised pre-cooked condensed milk has only exacerbated this trend.

To elaborate, last weekend my parents were up. I was making one, for a work thing. And didn’t have time for a buttered biscuit base to set. So just gave them smashed up buttered biscuits mixed w/ manjar, with smashed bananas and whipped cream dumped on top. And there was general agreement that it was actually better - ie, the minimal work involved in making a fully formed banoffee actually makes it worse.

So, yeah. How can this catastrophe of a desert be improved? Or at least made moderately interesting, in the design / construction phase? (We sometimes add coffee to the cream. This is barely an improvement, but at least gives the illusion of doing something a bit interesting.)

 

[Silas Loom]

Don’t make food you disapprove of. Mrs Mrs Quoad will just have to make do with classier tarts.

 

[High Voltage]

If it ain't broke . . . don't fix it

 

[Thimble Queen]

I fucking love banoffee

 

[spanglechick]

I think banoffee would be improved by a layer of crushed pineapple beneath the caramel. I’d personally omit the cream too.

 

[Wookey]

Oooh, pineapplofee....

What about presenting the whole affair in a fluted glass with appropriately handled longspoon? Eh?

 

[Fez909]

According to Wikipedia, it was Thatcher's favourite food to cook.

 

[Silas Loom]

She invented shit ice cream, as well. The woman was evil in every way you can imagine.

 

[mauvais]

According to Wikipedia, it was Thatcher's favourite food to cook.

She also made this monstrosity: I tried making Margaret Thatcher’s mystery starter. I wish I hadn’t

 

[Orang Utan]

I find it far too sickly.

 

[twentythreedom]

Eat a bag of dicks for your pudding instead, quoad. Banoffee is AMAZE

 

[wtfftw]

I don't like banoffee. I did make one for a relative earlier this year and it actually went wrong. Like complaints wrong.

Found a picture

 

[doodlelogic]

Try cinnamon. Or nutmeg.

 

[zora]

I also love banoffee, but have always been put off by the complexity of making it.

 

[mrs quoad]

My takeaways from this thread so far are:

1. There is no way of improving banoffee.
2. twentythreedom has an unusual approach to savoury desserts.

 

[Crispy]

I think banoffee would be improved by a layer of crushed pineapple beneath the caramel. I’d personally omit the cream too.

Yeah, something tangy/sour to contrast.

 

[danny la rouge]

The biggest mistake people make when making desserts or cakes is trying to use milk chocolate. This makes it too sweet, bland and sickly. The flavour of the chocolate is overcome by dilution with the rest of the ingredients.

Use only very dark chocolate. Especially on something so sweet as banoffee.

I've never tried the pre-made caramelised condensed milk. But if it's chemically, don't use it.

Banana is the only fruit that actually goes with chocolate (every other pairing is to the detriment of both the chocolate and the fruit, you folks with tobacco-addled palates) so you can afford to be generous with the grated dark, dark chocolate.

Whipped cream is bland overkill. If you must use it, pipe it sparingly around the edge.

 

[Orang Utan]

orange and raspberry also go well with chocolate (not together, mind)

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I think banoffee would be improved by a layer of crushed pineapple beneath the caramel.

Yeah, something tangy/sour to contrast.

You’ve both just made it onto the wrongun’s list

desserts... too sweet

There is no such thing

The ideal dessert is basically a jar of Dulce de Leche, served with a large spoon.

 

[danny la rouge]

orange and raspberry also go well with chocolate (not together, mind)

I'm prepared to concede that sharp raspberry might. (Not strawberry though! Never strawberry). But I don't like chocolate and orange (not just because oranges tend to give me migraines), but because it's just weird.

 

[danny la rouge]

I've been trying to think of a way to introduce espresso to the recipe. But you're probably best just to have one with it.

 

[Sue]

I've been trying to think of a way to introduce espresso to the recipe. But you're probably best just to have one with it.

Make a tiramisu instead? (A much, much superior pudding imo.)

 

[quimcunx]

I have definitely had good banoffees and bad banoffees. I'm actually quite fussy about them and rarely order them now because so many are a disappointment.

 

[shambler]

I think salt. Something to do with salt. Salted banoffee?

 

[bubblesmcgrath]

A drop of Baileys helps.....

 

[Mogden]

Ideas for modifications would be:

Different biscuits for the base. So Lotus biscuits or ginger nuts.

Use Lotus spread in place of the caramel

Peanut butter always works ever so well with bananas for me so that would be a welcome addition and add a savoury-ish twang to take the edge off the sweetness. Perhaps smeared on the base before the 'nana and caramel.

Sprinkle of salted caramel praline over the finished tart.

A horsey derv version for Xmas nibbles so one digestive with caramel, gilded banana slices and a flourish of cream.

 

[RubyToogood]

I would cook the bananas. Cooked bananas are much nicer than raw ones. You can just grill them in their skins.

 

[ringo]

Please provide us with your simple and quick but delicious banoffee recipe Quoad, forthwith.

 

[mrs quoad]

Please provide us with your simple and quick but delicious banoffee recipe Quoad, forthwith.

Batter biscuits, pour on melted butter, press into base, cool, slop on manjar, bananas, and whipped cream (perhaps with coffee) in that order.

Probably 5 mins of work, end to end.

There are some suggestions here that may be taken up (probably to the horror and disgust of Mrs banoffee).

 

[ringo]

Thanks, is manjar bought ready made?