Banoffee Mess; a delicious muddle of chantilly cream, crushed meringue, salted caramel and sweet fresh banana slices.
The best food is always messy.
Takeaway pizzas, slick with oil and scattered with all manner of sloppily diced meats and vegetables. Christmas dinners, piled high with every conceivable festive trimming and drowned in dark gravy. Late night kebabs, stuffed into polystyrene and shovelled into drunken mouths. Homemade birthday cakes, heavy with buttercream icing and dripped with the inevitable candle wax.
I write this with no intention to detract from the craft of plating and food styling, we do “eat with our eyes” after all. A beautifully presented dish can be wonderfully appealing. However, there’s something comforting about a disorganised plate of homely grub that Michelin-quality food can never offer.
Eton Mess is a classic example of this. A stir-up of cream, meringue and berries. It’s a common dessert across England and some other parts of the UK – Cranachan being a far superior alternative of course.
That said, we aren’t about common here at Maverick Baking. We’re about playing, experimenting, and creating. So sod Eton, let’s throw some banana and salty caramel at this old pud instead.
Today’s recipe is for a Banoffee Mess. We are disgracefully combining all the best parts of an Eton Mess with those of a Banoffee Pie.
Silky soft-whipped cream, kissed with vanilla seeds. Crisp, sweet meringue, politely punctuating the softness around it. Salted caramel, dancing across every taste receptor on the tongue with its bold saccharine saltiness. Sweet slices of banana, offering both creaminess and freshness against the dessert it bathes in.
Love Banoffee flavours? Why not try this Banoffee Layer Cake?
It’s delicious, it’s got layers of texture, and it’s an absolute bloody mess. I love it.
This Banoffee Mess is an absolute dessert dream at this time of year. It can be made into one giant dish, ready to be scooped and splatted onto plates, or into individual servings. You can make it a little bit ahead of time, to let all the flavours mingle together long before your picnic or barbecue. You don’t even have to switch on your oven.
This dessert is more a game of assembly than cooking. We use ready-made meringue nests, meaning that all you really have to do is boil some sugar and whip some cream. If you want to really minimise the time and effort, you can use ready-made caramel too!
No long line up of equipment necessary. Grab yourself a whisk, electric or manual, a saucepan, and some serving dishes, and you’re ready to go.
I hope you’ll love the assembling and eating of this Banoffee Mess as much as we have. It’s been an essential component of our diet to cool down in the wretched humidity of summer at the Scottish seaside.
Want to save this Banoffee Mess for later? Pin the image below!
To make this Banoffee Mess, simply follow the recipe below!
Banoffee Mess
Notes
BE A MAVERICK: why not add some chocolate shavings, or a dash of your favourite liqeuer, to the cream for extra flavour?
Any leftover caramel will keep well in the fridge or at room temperature for up to 1 week!
This Banoffee Mess will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Ingredients
For the salted caramel:
- 200g (scant 1 cup) caster sugar
- 100ml (scant ½ cup) water
- 100g (6 ½ tbsp) unsalted butter, cubed
- 100ml (6 ½ tbsp) double cream
- ½ tsp sea salt
For the chantilly cream:
- 400ml (1 ¾ cups) double cream
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 vanilla pod (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
To assemble:
- 1 batch chantilly cream (recipe above)
- 1 batch salted caramel (recipe above)
- 4-6 small ready made meringue nests
- 1-2 medium bananas, sliced into coins
- 1-2 crushed Lotus biscuits or Digestive biscuits (optional)
Instructions
For the salted caramel:
- In a small saucepan, stir together the sugar and water until the sugar has dissolved. Once dissolved, DO NOT stir again as the caramel may crystallise!
- Set the pan over a medium heat until it begins to bubble.
- Allow to bubble until the caramel turns a deep golden amber colour then remove from the heat. This may take up to 10 minutes.
- Whisk the butter into the pan of caramel until fully melted.
- Whisk the cream and salt into the pan until combined into a golden sauce.
- Set aside and allow to cool for at least 1 hour.
For the chantilly cream:
- Pour your cream into a large bowl along with your sugar.
- Use a sharp knife to split the vanilla pod in half lengthways. Use the tip of the knife to scrape the tiny black seeds into the bowl with your cream.
- Use a regular or electric whisk to whip your cream until it holds soft peaks.
- Set aside.
To assemble:
- Use your hands to crush your meringue nests and stir them through the chantilly cream until the mixture looks like a lumpy white cloud.
- Look out a large serving bowl or 4 small serving dishes. I use 4 glass tumblers.
- Spoon a dollop of salted caramel onto the bottom of your dish(es).
- Place a few banana slices on top of the caramel.
- Spoon over a generous amount of the cream/meringue mixture.
- Continue this layering process one more time, or until you have filled your dish(es). You should have an uneven rippled mess of every component. You may not have used up all of your caramel, but that just means delicious leftovers!
- Top with the crushed biscuits, if using, along with some more banana slices and crushed meringue bits.
- Chill the Banoffee Mess in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Enjoy!
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