FOOD | EASY BANOFFEE PIE

I think it was around two years ago that I had banoffee pie for the very first time... my brother had made it & it was love at first taste. I have such a sweet tooth so it wasn't difficult to see why I loved it. Caramel is always a hit with me.

I decided to make my own banoffee pie last week, so I did a quick google search to see what I would need. I was surprised to see how easy it was, & loved the fact that there was no baking involved. Just a quick & easy dessert or treat which takes no time at all to whip up.

If you would like to give this delicious banoffee pie a go, here's what you'll need & what to do...

INGREDIENTS

250g digestive biscuits

100g butter or margarine

397g caramel (TIP: if you can't get caramel, use a can of sweetened condensed milk. Read the end of this post for more tips.)

2 large bananas

whipped cream/spray cream

grated chocolate

UTENSILS

rolling pin

large bow/Pyrex dish

23cm/9" springform cake tin

METHOD

1. Place digestives in a sandwich bag & crush with a rolling pin.

2. Melt butter.

3. Pour crushed digestives into a bowl, pour in melted butter & mix until mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

4. Pour breadcrumb mix into your cake tin (no greasing or lining required)
5. Flatten the mixture down with a tablespoon. You can also flatten it to the sides of the tin, but I don't.
6. Chill for 10 minutes in the fridge (the mixure, not yourself!)
7. Pour on caramel & smooth it out.
8. Layer your sliced bananas on top of the caramel.
9. Pour cream on, distribute & sprinkle grated chocolate on.
10. Chill until ready to serve... obviously I had a slice straightaway.
11. Just pop out the bottom of the tin & ENJOY!!

TIPS

★ canned caramel can sometimes be hard to come by, BUT a can of sweetened condensed milk boiled for 3 hours makes caramel. Make sure you allow it to cool before opening because it's friggin' hot.

★ I don't actually have a rolling pin (have taken note that I need one), so I had to improvise and use a roll of tin foil instead. It worked, but a rolling pin would obviously be better & easier.

★ you can mix it up by using strawberries instead of bananas (or both together... all the heart eyes!)

★ if you don't like chocolate (really!?) use a topping of your choice... walnuts sound delicious too!

★ you could try chocolate digestives for a different taste.

OUR BABY-LED WEANING JOURNEY

Since Leighton was born in September 2016 making me a first-time mummy, I freaked out about so much. When I started reading about weaning in my baby books, I panicked big time. I was terrified he'd choke & we wouldn't be able to help him. It's funny, because I was still six months pregnant whilst reading about it, worrying about something that wasn't happening for at least 8+ months. So... the biggest worrier award goes to... me!

When Leighton was six months old, we started weaning. We started him off first with mashed banana - he loved it (& still loves bananas to this day!) We didn't do the whole 'introduce each food for three days' thing, & we didn't go with the vegetables first 'rule' (something about the sugar in fruits not being good to start with... *rolls eyes*). I just went with my own instincts. As well as his usual milk, Leighton had fruit purees & vegetable purees (carrot was the first vegetable - it was a hit!). I won't forget the first time he tried vegetable soup; he loved it, & kept reaching out to my spoon for more. He also had some baby jars, mainly egg custard as he takes after his mummy & loves it... mmm! In total, we only ended up doing pureed food for around two weeks. It got to a stage where Leighton was reaching for our food, & it suggested to me that he was ready to try finger foods. So, on came baby-led weaning instead of purees. 

Moving from purees to solids scared the crap out of me. I worried that he would choke on the littlest thing, despite my fiancé reassuring me all the time. We started with cucumber sticks, which he could just gnaw on as he had no teeth at the time. After that, we tried buttery toast, cut into soldiers... I remember sitting right in front of him as he nibbled on it, staring in case he choked. He gagged a couple of times, but that was it. If he couldn't swallow it, the gagging brought it back to the front of his mouth & he could spit it out if he wanted to. Babies are so clever & I really think they're more capable than we give them credit for!

We tried scrambled egg & he hated it. Omelette, he hated. Boiled egg, he hated. If baby doesn't take to one thing, give it a few weeks & try again. That's what I did, multiple times. Eventually I started trying less egg as he was eating other foods. I think it was at 8 months that we gave him his first chicken drumstick (skin off). He LOVED it. I mean, he couldn't 'hold' it properly, but he had the best fun chewing on the chicken. All my previous fears of 'will he choke?' faded away. He was a superstar when it came to trying every food, so we've been lucky. There's never been an issue with him eating anything.

With being weaned, Leighton was still on formula too, but at around 11 & a half months, we switched him to whole milk. There's never even been an issue with that, he just went straight onto it. Now that he's 13 months old, he eats a wide variety of foods, & has around 18oz of whole milk a day. I give him water with each meal & throughout the day. Sometimes, I'll give him really watered down orange juice for a different taste, even though he loves water.

Since around 8 months, Leighton has been eating what we eat & it has been brilliant. Now that he has six teeth, he eats pretty much everything. He likes chicken tikka masala, & is a HUGE fan of spaghetti & meatballs. He loves mashed potato, avocado on toast, apple slices, grapes, gravy, peas (especially mushy peas), beans, chicken, bananas (can't get enough), yogurt, toast, cheese, fish, pizza, roasted carrots & parsnips, chocolate, pork chops, pasta, Snax, stirfry, broccoli, crumpets, chips, vegetable soup, sausages, rice krispies, pancakes & since a few weeks ago, EGGS!!!!!!!!!!!! My persistence paid off, & now most mornings for breakfast, we'll have boiled eggs & soldiers, or scrambled egg. Eggy bread also goes down a treat.

* * *

If you happen to have been researching & have come across this post, I would highly recommend BLW. It's been a life-saver & so many of baby's skills are perfected sooner. Prepare for food to end up up on the floor throughout the whole weaning process, but it can be easily cleaned up! If Leighton fires food on the floor, I usually tell him 'no', but lately I've been ignoring it so he knows it won't get my attention. I'm not sure if it's working as he'll still drop food & say 'oh!', but I ignore it as much as I can. 

Overall, I'm glad we went with baby-led weaning & I'll definitely be using the same method for a future baby.