Banoffee Crumble

Sometimes I make things and think. That’s it. I’ve passed the brink, the dessert point of no return. Someone bring me an apple. Case in point – this banoffee crumble. I wouldn’t recommend this as being part of your daily eats but as far as the wee baked treat goes, this is a winner. A lot of love goes into the making of a crumble. A lot of butter also goes into the making of a crumble. But the end result? Golden, gooey, heavenly banoffee inspired coconut and pretzel crunch sitting atop a caramel swirled blondie base. And bonus points for this one because it has banana in it. And nuts. That’s a tick for two essential food groups, which practically makes it good for you. But a wee warning. The first bite can be disorderly if you're not careful. Subsequent bites get even more dangerous, because you may want several. A plate of the stuff will ensure you swoon dangerously, and is likely to make sharing near impossible.

Ingredients

Base

250g unsalted butter, softened

200g caster sugar

200g brown sugar

5 eggs

185g white chocolate, melted

½ cup pecans, roughly chopped

320g plain flour

2 tsp ginger

395 dulche de leche caramel plus extra to serve

2 bananas, peeled and sliced on the diagonal

Crumble topping

1 cup salted pretzels

2 tbsp coconut chips

3 tbsp butter, cubed

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

Method

Preheat oven to 150C.

Grease and line a 30 x 23 x 4cm baking tin with baking paper.

To make the base, cream the butter and sugars together until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the melted white chocolate and pecans. Sift in the flour and ginger, stirring gently to combine then pour into the prepared baking tin. Bake for 25 minutes or until just set and a crust has formed on top. Remove from the oven and pour over the caramel. Gently push the banana slices into the caramel.

For the crumble topping, place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until a rough crumb is achieved. You still want chunks of coconut and salted pretzel so make sure you don’t over process. Scoop the crumble mixture on top of the banana and caramel – don’t worry about being uniform – anywhere will do. Return to the oven and cook for an additional 30 - 40 minutes. If it is starting to darken too much on top, cover with foil for any remaining cooking time. Once golden and just cooked through, remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing. Serve with additional caramel, freshly sliced banana and coconut chips should you feel the need.