Bananas are a favorite fruit around my house–my pet rabbits love them as treats! And, I have to admit, my husband and I do too. I’m slowly learning to bake with them, and this Caramel Banana and Bourbon Pie recipe sounded soooo good. Combining my favorite fruit with a graham cracker crust, caramel filling, and a whipped cream topping sounded ridiculously good. But wait, there’s more! Add bourbon to that caramel filling and top that whipped cream with toffee bits and shaved chocolate. Awwwwww yeah!!
If you’re a regular reader this will come as no big surprise […] I did what I often do and it was good. I added bourbon. Yep, I have a reputation to keep and really if adding bourbon to any dessert works, well, adding it to one with bananas, caramel and whipping cream seems a given doesn’t it?
The Ingredients
If you happen to have a bottle of bourbon on hand, then the rest of the ingredients for this caramel banana and bourbon pie will be inexpensive and easy to find at a typical grocery store. If you don’t have a bottle of bourbon, then you could get away with a couple of minis for this recipe. Lucky me, I just happened to have a bottle of bourbon on hand.
In case your local grocery store doesn’t stock toffee bits, a crushed Heath bar will give you more than enough toffee bits to top the pie. Crushed hard toffee candies would also work.
The Process
I made my caramel banana and bourbon pie over 2 days in 3 major steps: the crust, the caramel filling, and the topping. The main reason for taking 2 days was the time needed to chill the pie after filling it with banana and caramel, then chilling it after topping it with the whipped cream, toffee bits, and shaved chocolate. Here is how the times broke down:
Day 1: Crust and Filling
- 18 minutes to prep and bake the graham cracker crust
- 1 hour 20 minutes to bake the caramel filling
- 4 minutes to fill the pie with bananas and caramel
Day 2: Decoration
- 9 minutes to make the whipped cream, pipe it onto the pie, and add other toppings
- 1 hour 47 minutes total (time to chill not included)
Day 1: Crust and Filling
I used the graham cracker crust the author linked to in the caramel banana and bourbon pie recipe. I ended up making 1.5 times the amount in the crust recipe so I could completely fill my pie pan. It turns out I didn’t need to make that much since the pie filling and topping didn’t quite fill the pan. I’d say halfway up the sides of a deep pie pan would be enough unless you use very thick banana slices.
The crust was the only part of this pie that left me with a question, and that was how many graham crackers make 1 cup of crumbs? The answer is 5. And a food processor will make making the pie crust fast and easy.
Next came the caramel filling. That was just a matter of mixing the condensed milk with the bourbon and baking it in a water-filled pan for 1 hour 20 minutes. It created a steam bath, similar to how you bake a cheesecake. I sliced the bananas while the caramel was cooking and filled the pie with them in just 4 minutes, then it was into the refrigerator overnight to cool.
Day 2: Decoration
Day 2 was making the whipped cream and decorating the pie. I used my food processor to speed things along. If you’ve never tried making whipped cream this way, just turn on your food processor and slowly pour in the whipping cream. It will be stiff in a minute or so, then add the powdered sugar the same way.
I used one of my cupcake piping tips to get big dollops of whipped cream added to my pie. Then all I had to do was sprinkle on the toffee bits and shave a bit of chocolate. My vegetable peeler and a bar of baking chocolate made that final step quick and easy. Then it was back into the refrigerator for at least 3 more hours to chill before serving.
