{"id":8384,"date":"2026-10-19T23:31:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8384"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:50:06","slug":"banoffee-pie","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/banoffee-pie\/","title":{"rendered":"Banoffee Pie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Britain\u2019s banoffee pie is a dessert in which milk toffee, fresh bananas and whipped cream are layered on a base of pastry or crushed biscuits. The three form layers within a single slice, and, true to a name that joins banana<\/em> and toffee<\/em>, the sweetness of fruit and milk is at its heart. The combination was born in Sussex in the early 1970s from an attempt to improve the toffee pie on which it was based so that it would set consistently.<\/p>\n

A Base of Baked Pastry or Crushed Biscuits<\/h2>\n

The original base is shortcrust. Butter is rubbed finely into flour and sugar, the mixture is bound with egg and chilled, and then it is used to line the tin. It is blind-baked with paper and baking weights, then baked further after the weights are removed until it is golden all the way to the bottom. Because the fillings are layered on only after the pastry has cooled completely, the bananas and cream are not cooked.<\/p>\n

A biscuit base, on the other hand, is made by binding finely crushed biscuits with melted butter, pressing them onto the bottom and sides of the tin and chilling. As the butter cools and sets, the biscuit crumbs hold together to form the base. It has a texture in which you can feel the crumbs, unlike baked pastry.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
Banoffee pie before the cream is added (6 February 2008, location unknown). Sliced bananas are layered over toffee spread on the base. Photo: FotoosVanRobin \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping made on our part.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Layering Bananas and Cream over Soft Toffee<\/h2>\n

The toffee used here is not a hard sweet that snaps, but a thick paste made by heating sweetened condensed milk. It is spread over the base, fresh bananas are arranged on top, and the whole is covered with cream. It needs to be soft enough to stay in each slice together with the fruit, without running out when cut.<\/p>\n

Besides the original method of heating condensed milk on its own for a long time, there is also a method in which butter and brown sugar are combined in a pan, condensed milk is added and the mixture is reduced briefly. In the latter, the sugar is dissolved before the condensed milk goes in; the heat is turned off once the mixture thickens, and it is chilled so that the layer sets.<\/p>\n

The original topping uses double cream, which is high in butterfat. Instant coffee and sugar are added to it, and a little ground coffee is also sprinkled over the surface. This finish layers bitterness and aroma over the rich sweetness of the banana and milk. Some versions are decorated with chocolate or cocoa; they keep the combination of condensed-milk toffee, fruit and whipped cream while changing the flavour of the top.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A slice of banoffee pie, with banana and cream layered on a biscuit base. Photo: Andy Li, 2026-04-21, location unknown. Original image<\/a> \/ CC0<\/a>. Downscaled version from the source; no additional editing.<\/p>\n

\n\"Banoffee\n
Banoffee pie served at A Room In Leith, a restaurant in Edinburgh (15 February 2009). Layers of banana and cream can be seen in the cut face. Photo: Edinburgh Blog \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a>. Full-size image obtained. No content alterations or cropping made on our part.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Bananas, After Trying Apples and Oranges<\/h2>\n

At a previous workplace, the chef Ian Dowding came across \u201cBlum\u2019s Coffee Toffee Pie\u201d, which a chef named Russell had brought back from the United States. According to Dowding\u2019s own recollection in 2006, its toffee was made by boiling sugar, butter and cream, and sometimes it would not set while at other times it was too hard. He then learned from his sister the method of heating tins of sweetened condensed milk in hot water for a long time, and remade the pie at The Hungry Monk in Sussex. The switch to condensed milk was an innovation introduced in this trial.<\/p>\n

The owner, Nigel Mackenzie, still felt something was missing and suggested adding fruit. Apples were not bad, but mandarin oranges did not work, and in the end they settled on the combination with a layer of bananas. The owner also named it, joining the words to make Banoffi<\/em>. Dowding himself dates its creation to 1971, but there are also later accounts that give 1972.<\/p>\n

Customers are said to have asked, when booking, whether it was on the menu. Dowding says that reports reached him of it being seen at restaurants in Australia and the United States as well.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A commemorative plaque on the wall of The Hungry Monk in Jevington, Sussex (6 June 2008). A memorial marking the connection between a local restaurant and the dessert. Photo: Kevin Gordon \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>. Full-size image obtained. Title of work: Blue Plaque for Food!, The Hungry Monk, Jevington, East Sussex. No content alterations or cropping made on our part.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

A Dessert That Spread, and the Label \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d<\/h2>\n

The restaurant\u2019s cookery book, The Deeper Secrets of the Hungry Monk, was published in 1974. Through this cookery book, the name and method of the original became known beyond the restaurant, and within a few years the dessert had spread to the menus of other restaurants. As it spread, a method using a crushed-biscuit base in place of baked shortcrust also emerged.<\/p>\n

As it became more widespread, a British retailer sold it as an \u201cAmerican pie\u201d, and the restaurant protested. According to a 1994 report in the Daily Telegraph, Mackenzie offered \u00a310,000 to anyone who could show the same dessert existing earlier than at his restaurant, and Marks & Spencer apologised for the labelling.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Blum\u2019s Coffee Toffee Pie<\/strong>: a pie of American origin that Dowding remade as the predecessor dessert. According to his recollection, the original toffee was made by boiling sugar, butter and cream, and its set was inconsistent.<\/p>

Ian Dowding<\/strong>: a chef at The Hungry Monk. He co-developed banoffee pie using condensed-milk toffee.<\/p>

Russell<\/strong>: the chef who brought back the American coffee toffee pie, whom Dowding knew at a previous workplace.<\/p>

Nigel Mackenzie<\/strong>: the owner of The Hungry Monk. He proposed the idea of using bananas and the name Banoffi.<\/p>

Shortcrust<\/strong>: a crumbly pastry for pies and tarts made by finely mixing fat into flour.<\/p>

Blind baking<\/strong>: the step of baking the pastry on its own before a soft filling is added.<\/p>

Sweetened condensed milk<\/strong>: milk that has been concentrated with added sugar.<\/p>

Double cream<\/strong>: a British cream with a high butterfat content. It is used for the original topping.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n

  1. \u30fbProfile on Ian Dowding\u2019s own website, archived version of 25 September 2022<\/a> \u2014 The profile explicitly states that it was developed at the Hungry Monk in 1971. The basis for this year is kept distinct from the \u201cearly 1970s\u201d in his own Guardian article. Independent re-read by A: 58 lines. The parent could not re-fetch it from the web, and this spot check is based on the assignee\u2019s record.<\/p><\/li>

  2. \u30fbIan Dowding, \u201cI invented banoffi pie\u201d, The Guardian, 2006<\/a> \u2014 His own recollection, body text \u00b655\u201364. The unstable toffee of the predecessor dessert, the condensed-milk method from his sister, the fruit trials, the naming, and its spread to other restaurants. The recollection is not a record made at the time the dessert was created.\n\u30fbIan Dowding, \u201cThe Completely True and Utter Story of Banoffi Pie\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A first-hand recollection. The full text was retrieved from a public web archive of 18 December 2014, and its account of the condensed-milk method, the fruit trials and the naming was cross-checked. It is not a record made at the time the dessert was created, and its account of dates is kept separate from his own Guardian article.\n\u30fbIan Dowding, \u201cBanoffi Pie, the original recipe\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The full text was cross-checked against a public web archive of 26 October 2014. The original shortcrust, condensed-milk toffee and coffee cream. This is a recipe previously published by the author and is not used as a source verifying current safe heating procedures.\n\u30fbRightWayUp Books \/ AbeBooks, listing with bibliographic details for The Deeper Secrets of the Hungry Monk<\/a> \u2014 Bibliographic details of a 1974 two-volume set and the seller\u2019s description of the edition. The pages of the relevant recipe in the original volume have not been examined in person.\n\u30fbTranscription of a Daily Telegraph article of 5 May 1994<\/a> \u2014 The \u00a310,000 call for counter-evidence, M&S\u2019s American labelling and apology, and a contemporary article on the recipe of the original dessert. A secondary reproduction; the original newspaper page has not been seen. The 1994 report content in the main text is limited to what could be confirmed from this transcription. It contradicts the date of 1984 given in Wikipedia-derived articles.\n\u30fbCarnation, \u201cClassic Banoffee Pie\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A modern biscuit base, toffee made in a pan, chocolate. Not a source for the early form.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Banoffee pie is a British dessert of banana, rich milk toffee and whipped cream layered together. The cut face reveals a brown base, a sweet caramel-coloured layer, pale banana and white cream. The name combines banana and toffee. In a single pie, fresh fruit meets the sweetness of milk concentrated by cooking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7350,"menu_order":155,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Banoffee pie","subtitle":"Banana and milk toffee wrapped in light cream","topics":"Cold fillings layered on a baked base\uff0fPairing the sweetness of milk with banana\uff0fA combination born in a Sussex restaurant","country":"United Kingdom","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["fruit","cream","butter"],"texture":["crumbly"],"occasion":[],"method":["baked","chilled"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[168],"class_list":["post-8384","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t