One of my favorite things about living in the same apartment building as my brother is that he and his wife have a much bigger apartment than I do—and they love to throw dinner parties. I bring the dessert. It's win-win.
One of Di's signature dinner party menus is Szechuan hotpot—she imports the spices straight from China and lays out a super-elaborate spread of traditional Chinese vegetables, thin-sliced meats, marinated fish, and her signature peanut-butter-infused spicy sha cha sauce.
I'm usually in charge of bringing something sweet to the party—and while the easy answer to a big, spicy, savory meal is cooling ice cream, I wanted to get a bit more creative, so I put together a sweet banoffee pie. It was super-easy, and super-quick!
All you need is a stick-and-a-bit of melted butter, 250 grams of crushed digestive biscuits (roll those two ingredients into a crust and pat it firmly into the bottom of a pie dish—I used my Le Creuset casserole). Top with a layer of dulce de leche (or caramel), evenly arranged slices of banana, and a good dollop of freshly whipped heavy cream and dark chocolate shavings. Set in the fridge for an hour or so—and snarf.
