Banoffee may now be a familiar café flavour, but its origins can be traced to one restaurant kitchen. The dessert was developed in the early 1970s by chef Ian Dowding and restaurateur Nigel Mackenzie at The Hungry Monk in Jevington, East Sussex.
According to Dowding’s account of the dish, it evolved from an American dessert called Blum’s Coffee Toffee Pie. After replacing its unreliable toffee method with caramel made from condensed milk, the pair experimented with different fruits. Apple and mandarin were trialled before banana provided the right result. Mackenzie then combined “banana” and “toffee” to create the name Banoffi.
The original brought together a pastry case, soft toffee, banana and coffee-flavoured whipped cream. Its popularity subsequently moved the flavour beyond the pie format and into cakes, ice creams, biscuits and drinks. More than 50 years later, banoffee is again receiving attention from restaurant chefs, with contemporary versions refining its sweetness and introducing more deliberate contrasts in texture.
Tip Top Foodservice’s Banoffee French Toast applies the same principle to a brunch dish. Condensed milk caramel is spread between two slices of Abbott’s Bakery Gluten Free White, which are coated in an egg mixture seasoned with vanilla, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. The toast is finished with sliced banana, whipped cream, maple syrup and icing sugar.
For chefs, the useful element is the progression of textures. The bread develops a firmer exterior while retaining a softer, egg-set centre, followed by a dense caramel layer, fresh banana and aerated cream. That variation gives the dish more structure than simply applying banoffee toppings to toast.
Sweetness still needs to be managed carefully. Condensed milk caramel, maple syrup and icing sugar can quickly dominate, so measured garnishing and adequate spice are important. A restrained coffee note in the cream could also reference the original dessert while adding bitterness.
The full ingredient list and method are available from Tip Top Foodservice.
