Banoffee Pie

There are some vegan recipes that just make you want to moan. Moan in the holey guacamole kind of way - because it's just tastes SO GOOD!! This is definitely one of the those recipes and I have a pack of non-vegans backing me up on this one. I made it on mother's day for two mother's and a bunch of family who all went back for seconds. You can catch the video through the spunky button at the bottom of this post, but first just a couple of things to know about this recipe. I made it just on the spot using a few short cuts, being digestives in the base and a pre-bought soy whip cream (because I can't for the life of me conjure up coconut whipped cream without it curdling and turning into a runny mess...yay - but you might have more luck). But for the purpose it needed to serve it did it's job wonderfully. Aka - the job being to make everyone smile with delight on Mother's Day, impress them with the healthy list of obscure ingredients. It didn't cut 100% neatly, yet I would say 80% with a crumbly 20% in there too, but hey - the taste was not to be faulted and I think it's sort of meant to be a little messy right? It's a banoffee pie - not a sleek chocolate pie. Anyhoo - enjoy friends.

Ingredients

• 300g plain digestive biscuits
• 1 tbsp vegan butter
• 6 medjool dates, pitted
• pinch of cinnamon
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla paste (or extract/essence)
• 300ml vegan whipped cream (I used this brand)
• 10g dark vegan chocolate, grated/peeled into shreds
• 2 bananas, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 a lemon

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 190C.
2. In a food processor, blitz the first four ingredients until crumbly and slightly sticking together. Grease a 24cm tart tin/dish with coconut oil or vegan butter and then proceed to press the base mixture into the dish. Start with using 2/3 of it for the bottom of the crust, pressing down with the base of a cup or spatula. Then with the remaining mixture, build up the sides to be about 3/4 of a cm thick. Press it all into place firmly and place in the pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly golden.
3. Meanwhile prepare the caramel by combining the almond butter, maple and coconut oil in a blender until smooth and drizzly.
4. Also prepare your bananas by placing the 1cm sliced pieces in a bowl and squeezing over the juice of the lemon half. Lightly toss till combined and set aside until needed.
5. When the base has sat out of the oven for at least 20 minutes to cool slightly, add the caramel and spread out over the base. Top with the chopped bananas (they will sink slightly) and then place in the freezer for 20 minutes until slightly set and the base is fully cooled.
6. Open your whipped cream (you could alternatively make this one here) and give it a slight stir, then remove the pie from the freezer and dollop over, smoothing to your liking. Grate or use a peeler to get little flecks of dark chocolate to decorate over the top of your pie, then place in the fridge this time until serving (good to do this for at least 1 hour).
7. Serve & enjoy!!