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…

Pecan praline and chocolate tart: Where does the time go

I had a great post all set up for my latest PIE creation. Unfortunately, when trying to get a photo in the page seemed to crash on me, losing the few hundred words I’d already done. Not fun at all.

 

So now I can add another thing I’ve learnt. Always save your work! (obviously the daily reminders in high school and university didn’t get through to me)

 

So the tart. I had to wait 18 and a half hours before I got to try it! In future I think adding up the preparation time hours might be a useful thing to do so I know what I’m getting into. A simple pastry and a short filling list does not mean it’s going to be a walk in the park!

Having started at 3:00 pm on Sunday, it wasn’t until 9:30 Monday morning that I got to taste my PPC tart.

The pastry making began at 3:00 on Sunday afternoon. Pretty straight forward and it was in the fridge for the first time at 4:00.

After an hour or so, the pastry ball came out and was shaped into the tart tin. Then back into the fridge.

An hour (or so) later, it came back out and I baked it blind, although I didn’t feel my vision was impaired too much. groan.

Then the praline filling creation began. Brought the sugar and water together over heat, roasted the pecans and drizzled the caramelized syrup over the nuts.

It was as easy as it sounded in the recipe.

It was a bloody fiasco.

Dean’s recipe says:

“Mix sugar and water in a small saucepan and stir over a medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, cook until caramel in colour (6-8 minutes), then pour over peacans. Stand until set (10 minutes) then blend in a food processor until finely ground.”

You could say this is what happened when I tried it. But I feel it would lack a few key details.

The caramelized syrup hardened very quickly after pouring it onto the nuts. I was left with a hardened, sticky clump of candied pecans and heaps of those fibres you see in candy floss machines. After nearly breaking a knife trying to separate the toffee train wreck, it had to go into the oven to soften it up enough just so it could be broken up and put into the blender.

Somewhat smashed up, but still glued together.

Even the blender struggled to separate it. It took several attempts and many goes at it with a knife to get it resembling ‘finely ground’.

After that, the milk chocolate cream mixture came together without a hitch. I added two thirds of the ground pecans and mixed it in. The pastry came in from the cold and the nutty chocolatey goodness was poured in.

Anyone fancy a chocolate bath?

Then, back into the fridge it went for over 90 minutes.

There wasn’t much to do at this point so I watched ‘Making New Zealand’ on Prime. A lovely show, they really need more historical documentary stuff like it on TV. It was pretty neat seeing how they built some of the biggest roading projects in the country and hearing the old men wax lyrical about the good old days.

Back to the Tart. I got onto the last part, the Ganache Topping. Bring cream and dark chocolate together. Stir until smooth. Easy.

Nope. Somehow, probably too much heat, the fat separated from the creamy part and I had to drain a whole lot of it down the sink. But it kept seeping out and the mixture kept shrinking. So I had no choice but to bring out the pastry and filling then spread my fat-seeping Ganache on it. Isn’t that nice imagery.

Back in the fridge for it’s final time, I had to wait at least an hour until it would be ready. Watched Pan’s Labyrinth again, great movie. Despite having studied it in English at high school, I could still watch it and not feel like I was re-living some NCEA essay on the significance of  film themes. Blah.

By the time the tart was ready again, everybody had gone to bed. So it would wait until morning.

I managed to hold off until after breakfast, and at 9:30 I was finally able to taste the fruits of my labour.

It was mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Soo good. The praline, despite having some toffee like chunks, it heavenly. An excellent combination of rich chocolate and pecan flavour. The remainder of the praline sprinkled on top gave it a crunchy texture which really complemented the smooth praline and ganache. The pastry itself is great too, it’s firm but not too hard and has a nice biscuity flavour.

Before eating it though, I took my tart on a morning photoshoot. Hope you enjoy it. Much better photos than I’ve had previously.

Enjoying some sun

Uncut

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection and looking ahead

So with the first pie done and dusted I can start thinking about the next one. I’m keen to try my hand at a sweet pie and Dean’s book has plenty of them.

Just a thought, if you’re keen to find out a bit more about Dean here’s his website: http://www.globalbaker.com/index.htm

So fancy! I didn’t actually know anything about the guy until I looked at his website today. He has his own shows! That might actually make me watch them too!

Back to my next pie. There are so many amazing, mouth watering options in the book. slabs, tarts, pies, shortbread. It’s all there.

So after a quick flick through I decided.

Drum roll please.

It’s going to be Pecan Praline and Chocolate Tart!

Photo from Dean’s book of the tart, taken from livingnorth.com

Why this one? Well they all look and sound incredible, I just have to start somewhere. It does require chocolate sweet pastry which sounds like fun.

I’m thinking I’ll do this one Sunday.

For a quick bit of reflection. I’ve realised making pies is actually a lot of fun. It can be kinda hard and at times tedious but the rewards are awesome. Maybe not the expanding wasitline though.

How do I feel about the pie shop? Well, I’ll have to find ways to make pies a whole lot faster If I’m ever going to do them on an industrial scale. Maybe, sometime in the future once I’ve got further ahead with the recipes and I have a better Idea of where I’m headed, then maybe i can think about getting some experience in a real bakery. Who knows, right now then only thing on my mind is that Praline tart. Mmmmm