If your fussy eater will eat Banoffee Pie, then why not try it this way…….
I haven’t quite got my food photography thang together, but here’s one I made earlier!
I’ve used a blind baked pie crust here in the picture – that’s because I’m from Sussex, just up the road from where banoffee pie originated, and they get sniffy in these parts if it has a biscuit base! Actually, for the purposes of Secret Cheffing, a biscuit base is actually better. The recipe below is designed to be a quick fix – this isn’t about learning to be a gourmet cook, it’s an idea on which I’m going to build all sorts of ways of sneaking in veg to an otherwise nutrition black hole!
As well as 3 of their 5-a-day, this provides a good dose of their Omega 3 brain food too. For the ground mixed seeds, I use about a tablespoon each of pumpkin, sunflower, linseed, sesame and hemp with a teaspoon of poppy seed and blitz it to a fine powder in a coffee grinder. You can use just the pumpkin and sunflower though alone.
You’ll see that I tend to steam vegetables – this is because they lose less of their nutritional value in steaming than in boiling – when you boil a vegetable, it leeches a lot of goodness into the water, which then gets discarded.
For the biscuit base:
12 digestive biscuits
50gms butter
1 heaped tablespoon ground mixed seeds
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons Nutella
(Alternatively, you can just use a shop bought pie crust – M&S do great individual portion ones)
For the topping:
125gms chopped dates
4 medium sized parsnips
4 large bananas
400 gm can of caramel/dolce de lecce
Can of squirty cream or any cream whipped (enough to top four ramekins)
Small bar of chocolate to grate
1. Blitz the biscuits in the food processor or put them in a food bag and bash them with a rolling pin or pan base until broken into crumbs.
2. Over a low heat melt the butter and Nutella together.
3. Tip the biscuit crumbs, mixed seeds and walnuts into the melted butter/Nutella mixture and stir through until combined.
4. Divide this mixture into four and press into the bottom of four large ramekins or small individual pie dishes and refrigerate to set.
5. Peel the parsnips and cut into small chunks and either steam until tender (usually about 10 – 12 minutes) or nuke them in the microwave in a little water for about 6 minutes.
6. In a small pan, simmer the chopped dates in about 3 tablespoons of water (add more if it all evaporates) until they form a caramel like mush, usually about 5 – 6 minutes.
7. Allow the parsnips and dates to cool for 10 minutes and then puree them together with three of the bananas.
8. Stir about half the dolce de lecce into the puree, taste and add as much more as you feel you need for taste.
9. Spoon this mixture over the biscuit bases and then refrigerate again for 10 – 15 minutes.
10. Finely slice the remaining banana (feel free to add more if you think you can get away with it) and layer over the toffee mixture, so that the surface is completely covered and then squirt cream over the top to cover the whole thing. Grate some chocolate over the top to decorate.
If you find the caramel mixture too rich, try it without the dates next time – most kids don’t notice the parsnip is there at all!
