Jackie's Banoffee Pie
Inspired by my friend Jackie who was after a dairy free, egg free, gluten free pud for a BBQ she was having. As a traditional banoffee pie is loaded with sugar, fat and generally with dairy and wheat, I thought this would be a great pud to reinvent. Still sweet, yet totally vegan and gluten free.
First, preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a fluted tart tine (loose based is best) with coconut oil, making sure you grease up the sides too.
Crust
1 cup gluten free flour
¾ cup Ground almonds
60g melted coconut oil
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor (or by hand) and pulse until a dough is formed. You may have to add a little water to make into a dough. Press into the bottom and sides of the tart tin. Using a fork, prod a few holes here and there on the bottom of the base. Bake for approximately 15 minutes checking after about 10 minutes. It should turn a lovely golden brown.
Take out of the oven and place on a cooling rack (still in the tin) to cool. Now make your filling.
Date Caramel
250g pitted dates soaked in hot water
100 ml soy cream or oat cream
Drain the dates, saving some of the water. Add the dates, dairy free cream to a blender and blend until smooth. You may have to add a little hot water that you saved to make the paste smoother.
Slice up about 3 bananas and arrange a layer over the baked base. Pour the date caramel over the bananas. Smooth and pop in the fridge.
Now the topping is usually whipped cream. As dairy free cream doesn’t really whip up unless you add vegetable fat to it, (making it quite fatty and sometimes it fails) I would simply grate some dark dairy free chocolate over the bananas. You could have some oat cream or soy cream for drizzling over it when serving.