Recipe: Deconstructed Banoffee Pie to sweeten your Valentine's Day

Valentine's Week: If low-key celebrations are something you are after this Valentine's Day, then this deconstructed Banoffee Pie recipe is the perfect end to sweeten your Valentine's night.

Valentine's Day is the perfect occasion for you to treat your better half to a wonderful experience, and given that most of us have been homebound for most of the pandemic, and continue to be, it's best to make the most of the time and opportunity while we still have it. While coronavirus may have dampened celebrations for people all over the world, there is always a silver lining to every cloud, and we must enjoy the fact that we can spend some quality leisure time with our near and dear ones before life goes back to normal and we have to get back to the grind. So if low-key celebrations are something you are after this Valentine's Day, then this deconstructed Banoffee Pie recipe is the perfect end to sweeten your Valentine's night. Read on:

Deconstructed Banoffee Pie

Ingredients:

1 tin caramel treat

1 large banana sliced

500ml double cream

1tsp vanilla essence

1tsp icing sugar

Base

20g butter softened

100g Tennis biscuits crushed

Banana parfait

250g banana puree

112g sugar

75ml water

185ml double cream

1tsp vanilla essence

4 egg yolks

Method

For the parfait. Add the sugar and water to a pan and bring to 118 degrees Celsius. Semi whip the cream and vanilla essence until almost at the soft peak stage.Add the eggs to an upright electric mixer and whisk at high speed until the egg yolks become light and creamy in appearance. Once the sugar mixture has reached temperature, gradually pour it into the eggs at a steady stream.

Continue to whisk at high speed until the mixture has cooled and doubled in size. Once cool, gently fold in the cream followed by the banana puree. Pour into moulds and freeze for about 12 hours

For the biscuit

Mix the crushed biscuits with the butter until they are combined and resemble a paste. Press into a mould and bake in an oven at 180*c for 5 min or until it has become semi-solid. Remove and cool.

For the cream

Whip the cream, vanilla essence, and icing sugar together with an upright electric whisk until it forms semi-hard peaks. Transfer to a piping bag.

To plate

Transfer the caramel treat into a piping bag and pipe a spiral at the centre of the plate. Slice the parfait and place just off the centre of the plate. Roughly break the biscuit and arrange it randomly on the plate. Pipe the cream haphazardly alongside the parfait. Place the banana slices so that they lean on the whipped cream.

(Recipe by chefs at Granny Mouse Country House)