Being the Secret Ingredient: Banoffee Pie-- And a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Setting: Blue skies, windows open.

The Soundtrack: Birds chirping outside, laundry turning in here.

On the Stove-top: Spaghetti Sauce and Chicken Stock.

The Scenario: A sweet treat for St. Patrick's Day.

I had never heard of the greatness that is Banoffee Pie until 2003, when Juliet offered a slice to Mark in exchange for wedding footage that wasn't "all blue and wibbly" in Love Actually.

Every time I'd watch the movie after that (a pretty regular occurrence because I own the DVD, and I have an extremely addictive personality), I'd wonder about this strange-sounding delicacy.

What kind of pie could this be?

Savory or sweet?

If it is a banana-toffee pie, as the name suggests, why on earth have I never been blessed with a slice?

Deep thoughts, all.

It wasn't until September 2010, when I visited Ireland, that I lost my banoffee-virginity, but man, was it worth the wait.

A crumbly "biscuit-crumb" crust, fresh, sliced bananas, creamy "toffee" (dulce de leche) filling, lightly sweetened whipped cream, and chocolate shavings combined to form pie nirvana.

Now, I know that banoffee pie is technically English, not Irish, and that the original recipe features a pastry crust rather than crumb, but to me it will always be Irish, and the crust will always be golden and crumbly, as it was for my first time.

Banoffee Pie
I like to add a little whiskey to the whipped cream to turn the Irish up, especially for St. Patrick's Day.

2 cups Homemade Graham Cracker crumbs*
2 T butter, melted
2 T brown sugar
2 large bananas
1 recipe Slow-Cooker Dulce de Leche
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 T powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp Irish whiskey (optional)
1 square semisweet baking chocolate, for shaving

*To make the graham cracker crumbs, process graham crackers in a food processor or place them in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin till you have fine crumbs.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Stir together the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and brown sugar with a fork until well-mixed.

Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake at 350 for 8 minutes.

Cool completely.

Thinly slice bananas and arrange evenly in the bottom of the pie crust.

Spread the dulce de leche evenly over the bananas.

Cover with foil and freeze at least one hour or until ready to serve, up to 3 weeks. Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving.

Before serving, whip the cream with the powdered sugar, vanilla, and whiskey just until it holds stiff peaks.