Banoffee Pie Parfaits Will Make You the Hit of the BBQ This Summer

Have you heard of banoffee pie? It’s a delightfully decadent combination of fluffy whipped cream, bananas and creamy, toffee-like dulce de leche sauce all snuggled into a graham cracker crust.

It’s one of the few desserts I have to order every time I see it on a menu. I keep meaning to try making the pie version at home, but in the summer, I’d rather focus on no-bake desserts. This parfait offers every ounce of the pie’s deliciousness in an easy-to-make freeform style. It’s as pretty as it is scrumptious.

Note that it’s easy to find jars of pre-made dulce de leche sauce in large supermarkets and specialty food stores if you want to make this dish even simpler to prepare.

Banoffee Pie Parfaits

Ingredients
1 can of sweetened condensed milk or can of dulce de leche
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup heavy (35%) cream or can of aerated real whipped cream
2 to 3 ripe bananas, sliced

Directions

• To make dulce de leche, preheat oven to 425F. Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk into a shallow glass or ceramic oven-safe dish. Cover the dish with aluminium foil and place it into a second, larger pan. Add hot water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the small dish.

Bake for 60 – 75 minutes, adding additional water to maintain level throughout baking time, until the milk becomes browned and caramelized. Remove from oven and lift the small pan out of the larger one. Let cool to room temperature then whisk until smooth.

• To assemble the parfaits, use six clean 1 cup (250 mL) canning jars, large wine glasses or other clear glass serving dishes.
• Put the graham cracker crumbs in a small bowl and drizzle with the melted butter; stir to combine.
  Whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form. No need to add sugar, as the dulce de leche is so sweet.
• Build the parfaits immediately before serving (otherwise they’ll start to deflate) by putting 2 tablespoons of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each serving dish, followed by a few slices of banana, a generous drizzle of dulce de leche (about a tablespoon) and a large spoonful or squirt of the whipped cream. Repeat with another 3 or 4 layers, depending upon the size of your serving dishes, finishing with a big dollop or squirt of whipped cream.
• Leftover dulce de leche can be transferred to a clean jar, covered and refrigerated for up to two weeks.

Serves 6

IMAGES SOURCE: COURTESY OF PAULA ROY

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