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I had never heard of Pi Day until I became a professional baker, and then suddenly I discovered I had to share my birth-month with math. I can’t be too salty about it though—it’s an excuse to eat more pie. Since berry season is still a ways off, here’s a recipe for an easy banoffee pie (a portmanteau of “banana” and “toffee”) which can work year-round—and if you still need a reason to make pie today, this recipe uses only five ingredients.
How to make five-ingredient banoffee pie
All of the components can be made from scratch (that is, the pie crust and the dulce de leche layer; I don’t expect you to grow and harvest bananas), but that is decidedly not easy, and demands more time and skill. Instead, you can just buy a jar of dulce de leche from the store. While you’re at it, buy a frozen pie crust too. You can opt for a pre-shaped graham cracker crust if you prefer, but the loose crumbs can stick to the caramel and make the assembly tricky. (If you do use the graham cracker crust, skip to step two.)
A quick ingredient shopping list:
1. Dock and bake your pie crust
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
The frozen crust needs to be cooked, but otherwise all of the other ingredients go in cold. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Use a fork to dock the crust—docking is just poking small holes all around the crust so big steam bubbles don’t form. Make sure you poke all the way through to the foil; you don’t need to fill this crust with beans or anything. Place the pie crust on a sheet tray and put it in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. After about five minutes, keep a close eye on the browning. Depending on your crust’s ingredients, you may see quicker browning. Cool the crust to room temperature on a wire rack .
2. Fill the crust
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
Dulce de leche in a jar is a gift from grocery store heaven. I put this thick caramel on toast, biscuits, and cookies. I grabbed a 15-ounce jar and used a little more than half of it in my pie shell, or roughly a cup. Once you’ve spread it evenly along the bottom of the crust, top the surface with sliced bananas. I used two bananas that I cut into about quarter-inch rounds; use more bananas if you prefer a banana-forward pie.
3. Top with whipped cream and serve
Top the pie with a heaping mound of sweetened whipped cream. I make mine with a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Dump heavy cream into the bowl along with a quarter or third-cup of powdered sugar. (You can substitute three tablespoons of granulated sugar if that’s available.) Whip until medium peaks form. Scoop the cream on top of the pie and cover the bananas in a way that makes you happy. Chill in the fridge or serve immediately.
This pie will keep in the fridge for two or three days until the bananas start getting weird. However, I doubt it will last that long. Happy Pi Day to all!
Easy Banoffee Pie Recipe
Ingredients:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Use a fork to dock the crust all over the bottom and sides. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or until dry and lightly browned. Put on a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
2. Spread the dulce de leche in the crust, and top the surface with sliced bananas.
3. Whip the heavy cream and sugar until medium peaks form. Spread the whipped cream into a luxurious mound on top of the banoffee pie. Chill, or serve immediately.
