Sweet Tooth!!

My mother is a great woman, she is 77 years of age and she acts like a young one! She loves coming to visit and spends her time playing with the kids, playing football, scooter races, on the trampoline (which i am sure is a health and safety issue!). She will try anything!!  I love when she comes because it gives me an excuse to bake some treats as she like me, loves anything sweet!

I decided to make a tart based banoffee pie.  I decided on a tart base purely because of the novelty of my new tin, sad i know! Banoffee is such an easy dessert but oh so tasty and even my husband who would rather eat a shop bought swiss roll than home baking enjoyed it! (My baking skills are wasted on this man but i live in hope that he will eventually appreciate them, :-D)

The best sweet shortcrust pastry recipe i have ever come across is Jamie Olivers and literally takes minutes by hand.

Ingredients for 2 tart cases (save one for another day)

9oz butter
7oz icing sugar
pinch of salt
1lb of plain flour

Zest of 1 lemon

Seeds from vanilla pod

4 egg yolks

2-4 tbsp of cold milk

Cream the butter, icing sugar and salt then rub in flour, vanilla seeds, lemon zest and egg yolks till it resembles bread crumbs, add milk to form dough. Pat to form a ball, touching it as little as possible.  Put in fridge for at least an hour wrapped in clingfilm.  After an hour cut into thin slices and place in a removeable base tart tin, press together to tidy. Put in freezer for at least an hour before baking in an 180c oven.  No need to place dried beans in it if it is frozen.  After 15 mins it should be lovely and golden, remove and cool on wire rack.

Topping

I tin of condensed milk, boiled into toffee sauce
500 ml of whipping cream
2/3 bananas
2 Crunchie bars

The pastry is definitely the main bulk of the work done.  I always boil up a couple of tins of condensed milk at a time as toffee sauce is so handy to have in the press, just make sure your pot does not boil dry as that will for sure end in disaster!  When tart base is cool, smear on the tin of toffee sauce all over base, slice up 2 or 3 bananas and place on toffee then lightly whip up some cream and spoon on top.  After reading Donal Skehans blog i decided to mash up a crunchie bar and place on top of the cream and it was DELICIOUS.  At this point i have to admit to a new experience of licking a pestle, most definitely a low point in my diet!!!


It went down a treat, clear plates from everyone!  My mother has just gone home on the train with the leftovers carefully placed in her bag!

All suggestions welcome on other tart recipes, maybe something chocolatey the next time!