Do you consider yourself a sweet tooth?

I don’t….

But at the same time,

I do like my sweets.

Contradiction.

That’s what makes thew world exciting…

Not that there’s much to compete with at the moment on the excitement scale!

Looking back…

As a kid,

The emphasis would be on sweet.

Not so much chocolate,

But definitely caramel.

It’s been years since I’ve had one…

Though I clearly remember consuming many a McDonalds caramel Sunday!

Last time I had one though…

I just remember thinking “how sweet is this!”…

And I couldn’t finish it.

Nowadays,

At a more “mature” age…

And a little more refined,

I appreciate some balance in a dessert…

And in my caramel.

A little sprinkle of salt…

Some fresh fruit perhaps…

Sour cream, creme fresh or yoghurt…

Whatever is needed to balance the sugar,

And bring the dessert into alignment with my 2020 palette.

So this week,

I’ve done all that.

Joe’s suggested Queensland bananas as pick of the week…

And I couldn’t resist a good banana caramel pie,

As a reminder of my love for caramel growing up.

Murray River salt at the ready…

As well as Greek yoghurt for the sour…

Kids are gonna be happy,

Dad and mum are gonna be happy…

And all that’s left to do now is…

Go off and cook it before the day is done!

Buon appetite!

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Ingredients for the Base

250g Marie biscuits (or any plain sweet biscuit)
125g salted butter
1 tsp cinnamon

Ingredients for the Filling

250g cream cheese
2 medium or 3 small bananas
60g salted butter
2 eggs
½ cup brown sugar, plus 1 tbsp extra
¼ cup full fat Greek yogurt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Juice of ½ a lemon

Method for the Base

Pre-Heat Oven To 170’C

Grease a 20cm oven safe pie dish.

Crush the biscuits using a blender or food processor then transfer it to a bowl. Add the cinnamon and mix to combine.

Melt the butter then pour it over the biscuit crumbs. Stir together well using a spoon.

Press 2/3 of the mixture into the base of the pie dish using your hands then set aside.

Method for the Filling

Slice the bananas and pour over the lemon juice. Mix together gently using your hands to coat the banana slices with the lemon juice. Arrange the slices of banana over the base of the pie crumb and then sprinkle with the 1tbsp of brown sugar.

Pre-heat your oven to 160°C.

Melt the butter in small pot and add in the sugar. Stir until dissolved, then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the caramel mixture, yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract and beat until well combined and smooth.

Pour the filling over the base in the pie dish and then sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top evenly.

Bake for between 50 and 60 minutes or until it has set.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then refrigerate overnight.