HALF-BAKED

"Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles." - Frank Lloyd Wright

Fallen stars

broken dreams litter,

Hollywood Boulevard.

Marquees flicker

immortality burnt,

on celluloid.

Folded corners

picture-perfect postcards,

collect dust.

BANOF-WHAAA?

Juliet: Banoffee pie?

Mark: No, thanks.

Juliet: Thank God. You would've broken my heart if you'd said yes.

Mark: Oh, right. Well, lucky you.

Love Actually happens to be one of those films that I never get tired of watching. Before this film I'd never even heard of banoffee pie. For some inexplicable reason I always imagined it to be some awful tasting savory pie I'd never want to try. Then this past Christmas I was invited to a dinner party and for dessert the hostess baked... you guessed it, banoffee pie. Who knew this strange sounding pie would turn out to be so deliciously decadent? The mystique of this dessert is only heightened by its variations in spelling (also banoffi, or banoffy), disagreements of origin, and multiple versions of the recipe, elevating the pie to almost cult-like status among banoffee connoisseurs.

What is it exactly? Banana and toffee pie topped with whipped cream with a sprinkling of shaved chocolate...

Banofee pie is an English dessert that "evolved" at The Hungry Monk restaurant in East Sussex by Ian Dowding and Nigel Mackenzie. The recipe was originally revealed in The Deeper Secrets of the Hungry Monk in 1974. The dish spread, becoming a British staple and in 1994 a number of supermarkets began selling it as an American pie, leading Dowding and Mackenzie to offer a £10,000 prize in the Daily Telegraph to anyone who could disprove their claim of invention. That's how serious folks are about banoffee pie. Now go see what all the fuss is about...

(recipe and photo courtesy of Deelish Dish)

Banoffee Pie

1 14-oz package digestive biscuits

8 tbsp butter, softened

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

3 large bananas

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1. To caramelize the toffee, boil UNOPENED condensed milk can into a pot filled with water, bringing the water line almost to the top of the can. Boil for 3 hours, carefully watching to make sure the waterline doesn't drop by adding water to the pot (if the water gets too low or evaporates, the can will explode!). Let the can cool completely before opening, then pour into a bowl. Chill in fridge for at least an hour.
2. Process the digestive biscuits in a food processor until crumb-like. Mix crumbs with softened butter and press mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes.
3. Once the crust is cooled, pour toffee filling inside and spread evenly. Slice the bananas and layer on top of filling. Whip the cream and layer on top of filling and bananas. Chill in fridge. To serve, sprinkle with chocolate shavings or dust with cocoa powder.