Banoffee Slab: caramelised guilty pleasure

This slab is insane.

I feel queasy just thinking of the amount of butter and sugar that went into it. When I took it out of the baking tray after letting it cool off, the baking paper underneath was covered with an oily yellow substance that continued to slowly leak from the pastry. Even after replacing the paper with paper towels, which are far more absorbent, it took three more paper cycles before the ooze stopped. It was rather unsettling to say the least.

However, despite that I would not cal it a failure. Far from it. This Banoffee slab is utterly devine. The caramel and banana filling complement each other so well and the chocolate pastry is fantastic. The melted chocolate on top can make it difficult to slice, but it just completes the taste overload. PIE suggests serving with whipped cream, but for me that is simply going too far. It is already ridiculously sweet, so much so that my Dad complained he could not get to sleep because it had induced some kind of sugar rush. I have (tried) to limit myself to very, very small slices so far and I can certainly understand how it has the potential to make you feel ill. Like some many rich deserts though, it can be difficult to stop yourself before reaching that point of over indulgence.

Just look at that

As for the baking itself, I used a few tools which Dean might consider cheating. For the first time, I used a blender for the pastry making instead of only using a wooden spoon. And I’m glad I did. I’m sorry, but to reach a ‘creamy’ consistency of butter and sugar is nigh impossible unless you got at it for an hour. Using the blender meant for the first time I was able to get a pastry texture similar to what was asked for in the recipe. So in future, despite what the book may say, I’m going to continue using it.

After baking the pastry blind, I made the caramel filling which consisted of condensed milk, butter and golden syrup. once heated in a saucepan and mixed together, it was poured into the pastry mould. Then the chocolate was melted with another large amount of butter. The method stated in the recipe said to ‘double boil’ where the contents is held over simmering water in a heatproof container. This took forever! I eventually started leaving it in the hot water for short periods to speed the process up, despite the recipe saying you should not do this (sorry Dean).

A quick somewhat shaky shot of the chocolate going onto the banana and caramel. It had to be done quickly or the chocolate would set. So it all done.

I had it all ready for my interview on Monday, only to find out once again that my efforts were in vain. the interview still went ahead, only it was on Skype. At this point I had a quiet chuckle and took it as a sign I shouldn’t take baking to an interview.

And once again, my family is left to devour my creation. Only this I think this one will go quite slowly…