BANANA-TOFFEE PIE

Banana-Toffee Pie image

Yield Serves 10

Number Of Ingredients 18

Crust
3/4 cup whole almonds, toasted
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg
1 tablespoon banana liqueur or brandy
Filling
2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large bananas, peeled, sliced
2 tablespoons banana liqueur or brandy
Whipped cream

Steps:

For crust:
Finely grind almonds in processor. Add flour, sugar, lemon peel, cinnamon and cloves and process briefly to combine. Add butter and process using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Beat egg and banana liqueur in small bowl to blend. Gradually add enough egg mixture to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; flatten to disk. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 10-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Trim to fit. Freeze crust 15 minutes.
Line pie crust with aluminum foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans and bake until crust is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer pan to rack and cool completely.
For filling:
Stir brown sugar, butter and 1/4 cup whipping cream in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves and butter melts. Continue cooking until mixture is thick, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir vanilla extract into toffee mixture.
Toss bananas with banana liqueur in medium bowl. Arrange bananas in single layer in crust. Pour warm toffee mixture over bananas. Refrigerate pie until cool, about 1 hour. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)
Serve pie with whipped cream.