Banoffee Parfait: Flawed Recipe = Dessert Failure 

Here’s a recipe that looks like it would be good, but the author failed in my opinion. In fact, to protect the guilty, I won’t even mention where I got the recipe. Even the photos I took of it sucked.

What made it a loser is the “crust.” It just doesn’t work in the form listed in the recipe. I could see this working if the “crust” were baked as a base for a small tart-like dessert, but as it is in the recipe, it’s just semi-dry, mostly flavorless powder.

The toffee layer actually tastes good. But it’s hard to go wrong with brown sugar, butter and condensed milk.

If you’re thinking of making this, consider a different type of crust for a base, and it may turn out really good.

What you’ll need:

• 1 stick + 2T melted butter
• 8 oz graham cracker crumbs
• 7T butter
• 3.5 oz brown sugar
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 or 3 sliced bananas
• 8 oz whipping cream (or use the stuff in a pressurized can)
• 4T sugar (if you actually make whipped cream for it)
• 2-3T chopped white or dark chocolate

What to do:

In a medium-size bowl, stir the melted butter into the graham crumbs and mix until it has a sand-like consistency. Add to the bottom of the serving glasses and pat down.

Next, heat the butter and brown sugar in a non-stick fry pan until melted together. The sugar takes a lot longer than the butter to melt. Add the condensed milk and continually stir over low-medium heat until it thickens and gets a bit darker. This should take less than 10 minutes.

When it’s thickened, pour into a container and cool for a half-hour in the refrigerator. When chilled a bit, pour evenly into the serving glasses. Then, slice the bananas and add them as the next layer in the glasses.

Make the cream into whipped cream and spoon on top before serving. Or, just use the canned stuff.

Garnish with shaved or chopped chocolate just before serving.