The first time we ever tasted banana cream pie was actually only a few months ago in one of our favourite cities in the world: New York. We instantly fell in love with the sweet banana custard, flaky pie crust and whipped cream combination! When we got back, we were determined to recreate it – with a sugarchaihoneybunch twist of course. The twist is a cinnamon-spiced custard, a sweet shortcrust base and a coffee-flavoured mascarpone topping. Yum!

Makes 2 mini pies

Base (adapted from Peyton & Byrne’s British Baking):

43g softened unsalted butter
25g icing sugar
1 egg yolk (beaten)
100g plain flour (plus some extra to roll out the dough)

Custard (adapted from Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course):

100ml whole milk
1 vanilla pod
1 egg yolk
30g caster sugar
1/2 tbsp plain flour
1/4 tbsp cornflour
1/2 tsp butter
1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon (to taste)

Topping:

1 small banana, sliced
100g mascarpone (or 50g mascarpone mixed with 50g double cream)
1 tsp instant coffee granules
1 tbsp chocolate shavings/sprinkles

1. Beat the butter in a bowl until soft and mix in the sugar until fluffy.
2. Beat in the egg yolk and then the flour until just mixed.
3. Push the mixture into a ball and then a flattened disc on a floured surface (countertop/wooden board).
4. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge until firm (usually about 30 mins).
5. In the meantime, grease two tartlet tins with a diameter of about 10cm/4inches. Line the bottoms of the tins with circles of baking/greaseproof paper.
6. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
7. When firm, divide the dough into two and roll out each half into a circle on a floured surface, big enough to cover the base and sides of each tartlet tin. Press each circle of dough into each tartlet tin, covering the base and the sides of the tin. Prick the dough lightly with a fork and place pie weights/baking beans/dried beans on top of each tartlet.
8. Bake the tartlets in the oven for about 20 minutes or until browned. Cool in tin.
9. In the meantime, prepare the custard.
10. Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan with the vanilla pod.
11. Take the pan off the heat immediately and set aside for the vanilla to infuse the milk and for the mixture to cool a bit.
12. Whisk the egg yolk with the sugar in another bowl until thick and pale-coloured (this could take a few minutes if doing so by hand).
13. Whisk in the flour and cornflour, little by little, until completely incorporated.
14. Take out the vanilla pod from the milk and slowly pour the vanilla milk into the egg-flour mixture, whisking quickly and thoroughly as you do so.
15. Pour the whisked mixture back into the saucepan and bring to a boil, while continuing to whisk thoroughly.
16. Once boiled, reduce the heat so that the mixture simmers for a couple of minutes, and again continue to whisk as the mixture thickens.
17. When the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, take the pan off the heat and mix in the butter and cinnamon.
18. Cool the custard.
19. When both the tartlets and custard are cool, carefully remove the tartlets from the tins and place on pretty plates. (Be careful when you do this, it might be a bit crumbly and … um break all over the kitchen counter leading to momentary panic slash despair. Don’t worry, just start over!)
20. Spoon the custard into the tartlets.
21. Place the banana slices on top of the custard.
22. Whip the mascarpone (or mascarpone and double cream) with the coffee until fluffy and spreadable, and spread on top of banana slices.
23. Decorate with chocolate shavings/sprinkles and enjoy!

So what do you think? Feel free to share your questions and comments below! We’d love to hear what you have to say.