Banoffee Pie

A strange name, with a simple explanation. Apparently, this is the pie in England. And with the reputation of British cuisine, I knew it had to be good. Anyway, back to that name. Once you see the ingredients list... bananas and what we here call caramel, apparently toffee across the pond (wow, am I culturally illiterate). Banana+Toffee = Banoffee. Some eaters of this pie were partial to Toffanana. Spelled either way, this one was a pretty universal success.

This pie, as much as any I recall, was a true amalgamation of multiple, multiple recipes. In the end, this one is probably the closest to what I actually made. Boiling sweetened, condensed milk was an interesting, albeit somewhere south of thrilling experience. Somewhere deep, deep in the recesses of my feeble mind, I recall hearing of that as a mechanism for producing caramel, but I don't recall where. I am not exactly sure if I should have kept it going for another hour, or if that portion of the pie was supposed to be pretty runny. It did not quite set up as I may have expected (you can see that in the picture below), but that flaw was definitely not catastrophic.

Other thoughts:

• I am a week late making this pie. It happens.
• I have not made a no-bake graham cracker crust before. I was concerned (change is difficult for some of us), but it turned out just fine
• I was floored by the recipe calling for a cup of butter in the crust. I could not bring myself to do it and so I didn't. A 1/2 cup worked out just fine.
• I love ginger and in this case it went extremely well with the other flavors in the pie. It has to be fresh grated, though (Does that make me a foodie, or just a snob? Do these jeans make me look fat?). Several other recipes that I looked at used ginger snaps for the crust. I doubt they have the same effect.
• I did not get to try the fully constructed pie. The work crowd managed to consume all of it, so this pie's rating will be based on their feedback. That feedback was good enough, however, that I think there is a great chance that I will be making this one for familial consumption very soon.
• If and when I make it again, I am really leaning towards making "toffee" from scratch rather than what feels more than a little bit like cheating with the milk boiling. I cannot imagine that going well (remember rule #1: I am an idiot). Should be a blast!

What is next? I have a few listener suggestions in the hopper, and there are only five more to go. I may actually make it; the finish line is in sight.