With just a couple of days until Christmas and currently being in the middle of Chanukkah celebrations, I thought perhaps you could use a simple but delicious party dessert.
“Banoffee” is an English contraction of Bananas & Toffee, a combination of flavors and ingredients commonly enjoyed together in England.
The inspiration for this shows how one recipe or idea can easily morph and provide inspiration for many other things. It originally started with a Bailey’s Toffee Sauce that I created many years ago for a presentation I was doing at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. The sauce base is pure maple syrup which is boiled down and enhanced with a touch of Bailey’s Irish Cream. One taste of the sauce alone and your mind will be aflutter with ideas…Serve it alone on top of ice cream, combine it with toasted pecans and serve over a pecan waffle. Make a pecan waffle and serve it with a scoop of butter pecan ice cream topped with this sauce and toasted pecans…eat it by the spoonful in front of the refrigerator door! The possibilities are endless.
After the sauce, came the Banana Pudding Crepes that I originally created for one of my Christmas themed classes at 700 Kitchen Cooking School. The filling for the crepes is a simple one of cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla that I frequently use with berries and fresh fruit. In the case of the crepes, I added diced bananas to the filling and topped the crepes with the sauce.
Fast forward to now…take each of the various components, layer and combine them with pound cake to make a dessert for a crowd: Banoffee Trifle!
Banoffee Trifle
“Banoffee” is an English contraction of Bananas and Toffee which are commonly eaten in the form of a pie or tart in England. Here I’ve turned this traditional English flavor combination into a trifle perfect for a large party.
Yield: 12-16 Servings
2 cups pure maple syrup
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur
2 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups sour cream
1 9”x5” loaf poundcake (purchased or homemade)
6 bananas
1 cup toasted and chopped pecans
Place maple syrup in a 2-quart saucepan and place over medium high heat. Bring to a boil and continue to boil until syrup reduces and starts darkening to the color of a dark iced tea.
Immediately remove from heat, and add heavy cream while whisking vigorously. Be careful of the large amount of steam that will be released when adding the cream. Add butter and Bailey’s Irish cream liqueur and whisk until butter is incorporated. Cool before assembling trifle. (Sauce may be prepared to this point a week in advance and then rewarmed to thin out slightly.)
Place cream cheese and sugar and vanilla into a mixer bowl and beat with electric mixer until smooth. When cream cheese is creamy, add the sour cream and beat until smooth. Taste and adjust according to preference with sugar or vanilla. (Filling can be prepared 2 days in advance.)
Cut poundcake into half-inch cubes. Peel and slice bananas in half lengthwise and then slice on bias into ¼-inch thick slices.
Assembly:
In a large trifle bowl or other large clear bowl, pour one-third of the toffee sauce. Scatter half of the cake cubes over the toffee sauce. Spread one-third of the cream cheese mixture on top of the cake cubes. Top the cream cheese with one-third of the bananas and chopped pecans. Add remaining cake cubes and then alternate the remaining ingredients in the same order until used up (reserving a few pecans for garnish on top), or bowl is full.
{ 0 comments }
