Banoffee Pie with Honeycomb, & October’s Cookbook Club Roundup
Sweet friends, hello. I hope this post finds you well, with a not too long to-do list, and a large enough supply of coffee to get you through it. If it makes you feel better about your list: my list has items carried over from last week, and the week before last. There doesn’t seem to be enough coffee in the world, but I’m working on it and that’s good enough for me! One item on my to-do list is to share this post with you: October’s Cookbook Club Roundup. I dove deep into two great cookbooks – click here if you missed the details – and have rounded up each of the wonderful recipes for you below. Beneath the roundup, you can find all the details to make my favourite recipe of the bunch: Banoffee Pie with Honeycomb. Who doesn’t love a retro dessert?
Let’s get into it!
October’s Cookbook Club Roundup
Bill’s Italian
I’m just going to come straight out and say it: I wish I was Italian, and I wholeheartedly wish I lived in Italy. I love everything about it – but especially the food. We ate some great meals from this book over the course of the month, and, if this weren’t a baking blog, I’d probably be sharing the recipe for Bill’s roast chicken – so good!
Roast chicken with saffron, lemon & chili // this was di-viiine! Easily the best roast chicken I’ve ever made – so so tasty and beyond tender! We enjoyed the leftovers in an epic chicken sandwich.
Roasted potatoes with pancetta // another divine recipe – especially when served with the above chicken. I couldn’t find the exact recipe online, but this is similar enough. These have already become a regular in our house!
Porchetta // one word: YUM! Very easy to make and perfect for a Sunday roast with the above roasties! I felt truly Italian when I pulled this out of the oven.
Mozzarella, red pepper & caper pizza // delicious. We’re always on the lookout for pizza toppings and this was a nice change!
Focaccia // this was nice – but Nicola Lamb’s brilliant 3-day focaccia has ruined lesser quality focaccias for me.
Roasted red pepper & almond pesto // this was very very good. I am a sauce monster and love all things pesto/mayo-y, so you can trust me. Not the exact recipe here, but very close.
Orecchiette, sprouting broccoli and chili // a very good vegetarian dinner. It was mostly the fried garlicky breadcrumbs that did it for us, but still.
Lomelino’s Pies
I hardly need an excuse to make pies – the pie section of Passionate Baker is one of the biggest – but I sure loved having one this past month! I already loved this book, but now I love love LOVE this book. There is a pie or tart for every occasion and I’m sad that I didn’t find the time to make literally every recipe in the book – there’s never enough time!
Banoffee Pie with Honeycomb // our favourite! All the details below!
Apple Crumble Pie with Honey & Pecans // a close second favourite. I’ve actually made this before, but loved it so much I decided to re-bake. Not too sweet with a lovely buttery crumble.
Blackberry Crumble with Brown Butter & Chocolate // so unusual and delicious! Blackberries with dark chocolate – who knew!? Not the exact recipe, but quite similar.
Apple & Pear Galette with Hazelnut Frangipane // I made this with all pears and loved it! The hazelnut paste hiding under the fruit mix provided a lovely crunch. Boyfriend doesn’t love pears, so I basically ate the whole thing myself – no regrets!
That’s it for October’s Cookbook Club Roundup! I hope you found a recipe to take away with you, and if you’re feeling Italian for dinner tonight, I really hope it’s the roast chicken! Catch the recipe for Linda’s Banoffee Pie with Honeycomb below!
Banoffee Pie with Honeycomb
Now, my very favourite recipe from the bunch: Banoffee Pie with Honeycomb. I love all pies, but I especially love a pie that is as easy as it is delicious. Any pie that has me doing minimal work in the kitchen is a keeper – and that’s basically the dictionary definition of banoffee pie. Here’s the breakdown of this luscious pie:
• digestive biscuit base. Extremely easy, perfectly crumbly, and luxuriously buttery. The best part: it comes together in a food processor!
• dulce de leche filling. Make your own – like here – or just use canned. I took the easy route and went with canned, but it was still delicious. Cutting those stressful baking corners!
• bananas, as much or as little as you want. Linda suggests 3, I went with a rather large 1. I mean, if I’m being honest with myself, the banana in banoffee is just really a side act. An added health incentive to help you feel less guilty about eating a caramely, creamy, sugary pie.
• cream! Lots and lots of pillowy lightly whipped cream. I used the back of a spoon to gently push the cream into big swoops of cloud-like happiness.
• honeycomb shards. Honestly, this is what sends the banoffee over the top and adds that wow factor. Delicious, crunchy, and totally moreish.
Have I convinced you to join me on the retro dessert train yet? Recipe below!
Now, please excuse me while I cross this task off my to-do list. Getting! It! Done!
PS, I shared a reel on Instagram of me assembling this pie, click here to watch. xo
Banoffee Pie with Honeycomb
INGREDIENTS
for the base
- 225 g digestive biscuits
- 100 g salted butter, melted
for the honeycomb
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
for the filling
- 1x 400g tin dulce de leche
- 1-3 bananas, sliced
- 230 g double cream, whipped to soft peaks
DIRECTIONS
the base
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and have a 9-inch pie tin ready.
- In a food processor, blitz the digestive biscuits into fine crumbs. Pour in the melted butter and pulse until combined.
- Transfer the crumbs to the pie tin and use your fingers to press them down into a pie shell. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
the honeycomb
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper; set aside. Have a whisk at the ready.
- Add the sugar to a pot set over medium heat and leave to melt. There's no need to stir the sugar, but swirling the pot is a good idea. It will become dark in colour, so keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn. When it's all melted, add the golden syrup and swirl to melt.
- Remove the pan from the heat, add the bicarbonate of soda, and quickly whisk the mixture together. It will bubble up quite quickly, so you need to be fast. Pour the bubbly mixture onto the prepared baking tray and leave to set completely, about 20-minutes. When cooled, break the honeycomb into different sized shards.
to assemble
- Spread the dulche de leche evenly around the digestive biscuit base.
- Top with the bananas, arranging them evenly across the caramel.
- Dollop the lightly whipped cream on top of the bananas, using the back of a spoon to create luscious swoops.
- Sprinkle the shards of honeycomb on top of the cream. Enjoy!
NOTES
- recipe ever-so-slightly adapted from Linda Lomelino’s book ‘Lomelino’s Pies‘.
- the honeycomb bleeds into the cream overnight, but this is purely aesthetic – it’s still delicious!
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to know! Please leave a comment & a rating below, or tag me on Instagram @imvcki. Thank you so much for supporting Passionate Baker!
Best banoffee ever!