Go bananas with this triple-decker dessert. It looks very fancy but if you buy the puff pastry it can be ready in an hour.
Ingredients
- For the banoffee cheesecake with ginger crumb
- 125g/4½oz ginger
cake - 300g/10½oz
cream cheese - 50g/1¾oz
crème fraîche - 50ml/2fl oz
double cream - 4 tbsp
icing sugar - 1 tbsp
maple syrup - 225g/8oz tinned caramel or
dulce de leche - 4 sprigs fresh
mint, to decorate
- 125g/4½oz ginger
- For the caramelised bananas
- 200g/7oz
caster sugar - 2 large
bananas, peeled and cut into chunks - iced water, in a bowl
- 200g/7oz
- For the banana tarte tatin
- 250g/9oz
plain flour, plus extra for dusting - ½ tsp
salt - 275g/9¾oz cold
butter, cut into small cubes - 125ml/4fl oz iced water
- 115g/4oz
caster sugar - 2-3 small
bananas, peeled and sliced
- 250g/9oz
Preparation method
For the banoffee cheesecake, put the ginger cake in a food processor and whizz to crumbs. Set aside.
Put the cream cheese, crème fraîche, double cream, icing sugar and maple syrup in a large bowl and mix. Gently stir in the tinned caramel to create a ripple effect. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
For the caramelised bananas, cook the 200g/7oz caster sugar in a large frying pan over a low-medium heat without stirring until it has melted. Increase the heat until the caramel turns a light golden-brown. Remove from the heat, add the bananas and, using two spoons, carefully coat them in the caramel. (CAUTION: boiling sugar is extremely hot. Handle very carefully.) Put the bananas in the bowl of iced water to set.
Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out the pastry to a 40x20cm/16x8in rectangle. Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that. Give it a quarter-turn. Roll the pastry into a 40x20cm/16x8in rectangle as before, and fold it into three again. These are the first two turns. Wrap the block in cling film and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
Give the pastry another two turns, rolling and folding as before. This makes a total of four turns. Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Divide the 115g/4oz caster sugar evenly between two very small ovenproof frying pans (alternatively use one large frying pan). Cook over a low heat without stirring until the sugar has melted. Increase the heat until the caramel turns a light golden-brown. Remove from the heat, put half the remaining butter in each pan and stir gently. Carefully arrange the sliced bananas in each pan.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry to the thickness of a pound coin. Cut out two circles slightly larger than the circumference of the small frying pans (or one circle if using a single larger pan). Any leftover pastry can be frozen and used in other dishes. Cover each pan with a pastry round, pushing the edges down around the bananas. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the pastry is golden-brown and cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
To serve, invert a plate over the frying pans and turn out the tarts. Put a pile of ginger cake crumbs on each plate and a quenelle of the cream cheese mixture on top. Place a few chunks of caramelised banana next to it. Garnish with fresh mint.