The perfect combination of flavours!

I have always admired banoffee pie from afar. It's not that big here in Australia and I have never actually made it or even tried banoffee pie before, but I have been drooling over images of it for ages. Whats not to love? Caramel, banana and cream! So I could't resist turning one of my all time favourite dessert, salted caramel semifreddo, into a version of the famous English dessert.

I thought I'd make it vegan since there are a million non-vegan recipes out there and I love the challenge of making vegan versions of traditional desserts. My tummy also doesn't handle heaps of dairy and banoffee pie is pretty much pure dairy so I a sure I would suffer after a big serve of traditional banoffee! And anyway, you seriously can't even tell it's vegan! Also I'm not that into cakes and biscuits but crazy for nuts so opted for maple and vanilla coasted crushed almonds to provide the crunch.

This is pretty much my favourite type of dessert. If there is a formula for my kinda of sweet food it is something thats not sickly sweet, something creamy, something fruity and something crunchy. Just like banoffee pie! This recipe does push the boundaries around being too sweet, but the salt and unsweetened coconut cream and banana just manage to balance it out.

There are a few steps to making this dessert and its more a dinner party kinda effort recipe. However I encourage you to give it a go because you'll love it! If you wanted a more simple option, you could use pre-made caramel such as the seriously amazing cashew caramel from the brand Pana (available in most supermarkets).

If you want to make this ahead of time prepare everything except the banana and place in the fridge until needed. When you're ready just top with bananas and the maple almond crumb and serve.

Vegan Banoffee Pie Pots with Maple Almond Praline

Prep time: 1 hour plus 2 hours to set. Recipe best started the day before to allow time for the cashews to soak.

Makes: 4 serves

Dietary guideline: This recipe is vegan and gluten free. FODMAP friendly version in the works!

Ingredients

2 ripe but still firm bananas

300ml of coconut cream refrigerated overnight*

1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste

For the salted caramel

1 ½ cups of caster sugar

¾ cup cashew milk or another plant based milk

110g of solid coconut oil broken into chunks (about 1/3 cup)

For the salted caramel mousse

½ cup of vegan salted caramel (from above recipe)

1 ½ cups of cashews (soaked overnight)**

½ cup of cashew milk or another plant based milk

2 tablespoons of vegan butterscotch schnapps or liquor

Seeds from ½ a vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste

3 tablespoons of coconut oil liquefied

Pinch of salt

For the maple almonds

½ cup of blanched whole almonds

1 tablespoon plus1 teaspoon of sugar

1 tablespoon plus1 teaspoon of of maple syrup

½ a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste

Cooking note: This recipe required a high powered blender to get the right smooth consistency. If you don't have one you can still make it it will just have a little more texture. Using a high powered blenders also means the mix will get quite warm after about 3 minutes (high powered blenders heat up their contents after a few minutes). This heat helps the texture of the semifreddo become more thick and airy like a mousse and means it will set in the fridge.

*I recommend using Kara coconut cream. It is usually available at Asian specialty food shops. Otherwise look for a nice creamy coconut cream that has a homogenised consistency as opposed to one where the fat and water have separated. Basically you want coconut cream that looks like dairy cream.

**If you don't have time to soak the cashews overnight, soak them in boiling water for half an hour, drain, cover with more freshly boiled water and soak for another half an hour.

Method

First make the salted caramel. Place the sugar in a heavy based saucepan and stir constantly. The sugar will start to clump together and melt eventually become a clear amber coloured lump free liquid. When it is a nice golden brown (careful if it goes to dark it will become bitter) quickly take it off the heat and add the coconut oil and stir. Try and combine the oil and sugar as well as you can and then add the plant based milk. It will spit and froth up. Stir well and place back on a low heat for a few minutes until mixes together. If you have any problems with the texture or it doesn't quite come together, just use a stick blender and whizz until its nice and smooth. Season with a good pinch of salt.
To make the caramel mousse place ½ a cup of the still warm (reheat if needed) caramel in a high powered blender along with the rest of the ingredients. Blend on high for 90 seconds. Scrape down the sides if needed and blend on high for another 2-3 minutes or until super smooth. Poor into 4 glasses and place in the freezer. Leave the remaining caramel in the saucepan. After about twenty minutes (when the mousse has started to set) pour the remaining caramel over the top of the mousse in each glass. If the caramel has become to thick too pour, gently heat it but only slightly as you don't want it to melt the mousse. Place the pots in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours.
Meanwhile, prepare the nuts. Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper. In a small bowl, mix the nuts, maple syrup, sugar, vanilla paste and a pinch of salt. When they are evenly coated, spread out in a single layer on the baking paper lined tray. Place in the oven and bake for a about 15 minutes or until golden brown stirring once or twice. Let them cool and then break them up into a rough crumb by either pulsing a few times in a whizzer or wrap them up in a tea towel and bash them with a rolling pin.
Whip the coconut cream and 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste with a hand/stand mixer until light and fluffy – like whipped cream. If you over whip it or its too thick just add a little plant based milk to get the right consistency.
After a couple of hours in the fridge, the mousse and caramel should be set and ready to assemble for serving. Sprinkle the crushed maple almond mixture evenly amongst the 4 glasses (reserve a little for garnish). Top with a layer of the whipped coconut cream , slice the bananas into round and layer on top of the coconut cream. Finally sprinkle with the remaining maple almonds and serve.