I have always had a soft spot for banoffee pie. The banoffee from Big Chill in Delhi was the first I had ever tasted, and I used to spend a large part of my pocket-money in college on it and other great desserts at Big Chill. (How I miss Delhi!)

I know a lot of people think it is an absolutely revolting dessert, but I am from the other side. Remember that scene from Love Actually when Andrew Lincoln turns down Kiera Knightly’s offer of banoffee pie and she is oh-so-happy that she doesn’t have to share?

I am kind of like that with banoffee pie. I would like to NOT share. Anyway. I have not eaten banoffee pie in Mumbai so far, perhaps because I do not venture out as much anymore.

Then, inspiration struck, in the form of:

1. This DIY cookie jar gift idea a friend once sent me from The Frisky. While I think it is kind of lame to just dump flour and sugar and chocolate chips and whatever else into a jar and tell your friends to make the actual cookies themselves, it does look rather pretty. Like edible sand art.
2. The Purple Foodie’s caramel sauce recipe.

I might as well make my own! I took all my inspiration, threw it into a jar and came up with this. Making the caramel sauce from scratch was a great idea- it turned out less sweet and thicker than the ones you get in a squeeze bottle; and the saltiness worked nicely with the ripe bananas.

BANOFFEE DESSERT JAR (200 gram jar)

First, you need to make your caramel sauce. (Adapted from The Purple Foodie)

For The Caramel Sauce: Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• A pinch of salt
• A dash of vanilla extract

For The Caramel Sauce: Method

• Place the sugar in a thick-bottomed pan and melt it on low heat. Swirl the pot around; avoid using a wooden spoon since this may crystallise the sugar
• Once the sugar has melted and turned a rich brown colour, take if off the heat and add the butter. The mixture will begin to bubble and foam.
• Whisk in the cream and vanilla extract.
• Stir in the salt and set aside.

For The Rest Of The Dessert: Ingredients

• 1/2 of a large banana, sliced into full-moons (you can use 2 small ones if you live in the tropics like me and get a variety of small bananas)
• 3 digestive biscuits
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 2 tablespoons sweet whipped cream

For The Rest Of The Dessert: Method

• Crush the biscuits, mix it with the sugar and butter and press down into the bottom of the jar, so that it fills 1/4th of the jar. Use the back of a rounded scoop or the back of a spoon to pack it all in. Refrigerate for 30 to 45 minutes.
• Once cool, take the jar out of the fridge and top the biscuit crumbs with the caramel sauce, filling the next 1/4th of the jar.
• Allow this to rest in the fridge for another 30 minutes.
• Next, take the jar out of the fridge, top with the sliced bananas and whipped cream. (If you want, you can warm the bananas for 30 seconds in the microwave.)
• Finish off with chocolate chips, chocolate sprinkles or more biscuit crumbs.

Serves 2. Or one greedy person 🙂