Festive banoffee tart

Doug Sherring

I vividly remember learning to make banoffee tart when I was about 12. That version used a base made with wine biscuits and butter, and I remember thinking that boiling whole tins of condensed milk to make caramel was like magic. For this version I cheated by buying the tart shell (a good-quality French bakery one from the supermarket) and the caramel, which meant the tart - which looks impressive and tastes amazing - took 10 minutes to assemble. To make this gluten free, you can find a gluten-free tart shell recipe (there is one from my chocolate ganache tart from last year's Christmas recipes.

Ingredients

1	Pastry tart case, sweet, approx 20cm
1 tin	Sweetened condensed milk, 395g, or use the pre-made caramel condensed milk (Main)
2	Bananas, ripe, I use All Good fair trade (Main)
250 ml	Cream, I use Lewis Road Creamery
1 tsp	Vanilla bean paste, or the seeds of 1 vanilla pod, or 1 tsp of good-quality vanilla extract (I used Heilala)
5	Strawberries
½	Pomegranates, seeds

Directions

1. If using condensed milk to make your caramel, place the tin unopened into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered for 2-3 hours, turning the tin carefully with tongs at intervals and topping up with more water to keep the tin covered. Allow to cool fully before opening the tin. When you open it, your caramel will be ready.
2. To assemble the tart, cover the tart base with a generous layer of caramel. Slice the bananas, and layer on top.
3. Gently whip the cream with the vanilla paste or seeds and spread over the bananas.
4. Garnish with strawberry slices and pomegranate seeds. The tart can be eaten immediately or made ahead and kept in the fridge a few hours. Remove from the fridge about 20 minutes before serving.

More of Delaney's Christmas recipes

• A side of salmon with fennel and lemon
• Festive greens orzo salad
• Mango, avocado and haloumi salad
• Tuscan crostini