Dairy-free banoffee pie

Banoffee pie is an English dessert with lots of cream, toffee and condensed milk. Have I lost all the dairy and lactose intolerant people out there? I hope not, as this is dairy-free, using dates and coconut cream instead.

Serves 12

Ingredients

For the base

• 240g/8 1/2 oz ground nuts of your choice (we used 70g/2 1/2 oz each of cashews and almonds and 100g/3 1/2 oz pecans
• 150g/5 1/4 oz dates
• 1 tbsp Lucy Bee coconut oil, melted

For the date caramel

• 350g/12 1/2 oz stoned dates
• 8 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp Lucy Bee coconut oil, melted
• ¼ tsp Himalayan salt

For the topping

• 320ml/1 1/4 cups coconut cream (thick coconut milk), refrigerated overnight
• 1½ tbsp icing (confectioners’) sugar
• 3 bananas, thinly sliced
• Cacao nibs or dairy-free dark chocolate flakes, to decorate

Method

1. To make the biscuit base, put the ground nuts, dates and coconut oil in a food processor or blender and pulse until combined. Tip into a 24cm/9½-inch loose-based tart tin and press it down with a spoon so it is nice and compact and the whole base and sides are covered. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

2. For the caramel, put the dates, water, melted coconut oil and salt into a large, wide saucepan and heat for 15–20 minutes until the dates have softened and the water has almost evaporated. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and blitz until smooth, then leave to cool completely.

3. For the topping, take the chilled coconut cream out of the fridge and drain off any liquid (you only want to use the thick cream, or it will be too runny). Whip the coconut cream with the icing (confectioners’) sugar.

4. To assemble, push the biscuit base out of the tin onto a flat plate and remove the base of the tin. Smooth the date caramel over the base, add a layer of sliced bananas (save some for the top) then smooth the whipped coconut cream over the bananas. Top with the remaining banana slices and sprinkle with cacao nibs or dark chocolate flakes to decorate.

Tips and notes

Make sure the liquid (if any) in the coconut cream is poured off, otherwise the cream will be hard to whip.

From Coconut Oil: Recipes for Real Life. Recipe text © 2016 Lucy Bee Limited.