I promised to start uploading some goodies for you, so here’s my first post!

Unfortunately, I didn’t take step by step photographs as I really thought I’d go out on a limb here to make this. You see, my husband works very hard at work, and at home. So I only thought it would be fitting if I kindly made him this yummy twist on a classic banoffee pie. The only thing is… poor hubby asked me to make this for him during the first week of September after he casually mentioned how my banoffee pies are just amazing (well, what can I say hey?!!! Just kidding!). I think the maths department were waiting patiently enough for the first week let alone the past TWO MONTHS that I had taken in making this delicious goodie haha!

So I thought, instead of making the plain old, simple, everyday, banoffee pie. I would go and add my twist into it. You see, I am a huge fan of Oreo biscuits and if I could, I would have it with any dessert. I’m pretty sure you can make any dessert with them too. I’ve tried Oreo truffles, (which my two sisters made during my brothers wedding, so I can’t really take the credit but I will definitely be having a go at these very soon.) Oreo cheesecake, Oreo cupcakes and even an Oreo Wedding Cake which came complete with its own Oreo frosting of course. It was my love for these delectable biscuits which helped me to make up my mind on making an Oreo biscuit base for this pie… which I have done before and it tasted divine, so I was pretty sure I was off to a grand start.

My second thought came when I remembered seeing my youngest sister in law having Nutella with banana and bread several times not to mention the adverts on tv too lol!
So off I went in search for a fresh tub of Nutella. But I couldn’t just stop there, oh of course not. How can I use Nutella which is made up of plentiful hazelnuts and not have some roasted hazelnuts showered over the fresh cream topping? I searched high and low for some hazelnuts… I nearly gave up. I even saw the nut stall at the market that day and for some reason I just walked in the opposite direction knowing he would have it. I knew right there and then that I was giving up hope, but thankfully I had to pop into ASDA to get some baby food and noticed a packet of hazelnuts in the…. ermmmm… Home Baking aisle right at the far end of the store *embarrassed*. I know I know, how did I end up there lol! Its a habit, my legs take me there even if I have no need to go there, but as a baker at heart my legs just knew that there was something eagerly waiting for me. It sat staring at me and calling at me Okay, enough is enough Nel! I bought the packet and came home to finish what I had started!

Here’s what you’ve been waiting for…

Ingredients and Instructions:
You will need a 9″ pie dish.
1 can of Carnation Caramel
Roughly 3-4 medium ripe bananas
1 packet of Oreos 
2 tbs butter (melted)
200g Nutella (about half a jar of the normal 400g size)
300ml double cream
1 tbs caster sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp of cream cheese (optional)
Some chocolate to grate over the top
Roughly 20-25 hazelnuts
Honey
Salt & Pepper
Icing Sugar

1. In a bowl, break up your Oreos in a bag and then place them into a small bowl. Add in the melted butter and stir until it has all been incorporated into the Oreo mix.
2. Spread the Oreo mixture into the pie dish, and place into the fridge for at least 10-15 minutes, or until the biscuit base has completely hardened. (Sometimes I just put it in the freezer!)
3. Take it out and then spread Nutella very carefully over the Oreo base as it tends to stick to the biscuits and then lift them off the pie dish.
4. Open your tin of caramel. I like to get a spoon and then give it a quick mix whilst it’s still inside so that it softens which just means I don’t need to apply too much pressure on the caramel when I’m spreading it on the biscuit base.
5. Now pour the caramel over the Nutella layer and spread it carefully making sure not to mix the two too much!
6. Chop up bananas and lay over the caramel.
7. In another bowl, mix caster sugar and cream cheese together before adding in your double cream. – Whisk until it peaks. I whisked mine a little longer than I had wanted to hence why the texture in the pictures look a little ‘hairy’ lol!
8. You can either pipe it onto the the pie or just spoon it on and give a natural rustic look
9. Grate some chocolate over the top.
10. Hazelnuts: On slow to medium heat roast your hazelnuts and after about 3 minutes sprinkle a little salt and pepper over them and a quick drizzle of honey. I would say a little less than a teaspoon. (I poured straight out of the jar lol!) But just make sure it’s enough to JUST LIGHTLY coat them. Too much honey will make them get really sticky and you will find it difficult to seperate them!
Toss around for another 2 minutes or until you are satisfied that they have browned well and have a shiny glaze! Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes
11. Pop them on top of the cream, dust with icing sugar, and voila!

I hope you enjoy making this, but I am pretty sure you will enjoy eating this far more as did my husband and his colleagues!

What are your favourite pies to make and eat?