Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Grease the side and base of a round 8 inch (20cm) spring-form or loose bottomed cake tin and then line the base with a circle of baking or parchment paper.
Make the biscuit base
- Measure out the biscuits then put them in a large mixing bowl or a large zip lock / freezer bag. Using a rolling pin, or something similar, bash them until they form a nice fine crumb.Alternatively pop them in a food processor if you have one. It will blitz the biscuits into a fine crumb in seconds for you.
- Measure out the butter and put it in a saucepan or microwavable bowl. Heat it gently on the hob or blast it in the microwave until it has fully melted.
- Once the butter has melted, add the biscuit crumbs to your saucepan or bowl. Or, if you crushed the biscuits in a bowl, you could pour the butter into the bowl instead. Stir it together until all the biscuit crumbs are well coated in butter.
Form the cheesecake base
- The last step in making the base is to tip or spoon the crushed biscuits into your prepared baking tin. Then, using the back of a metal spoon or a spatula press the base down firmly into the tin until it is all nice and level.Make sure you keep pressing it down in the middle and at the sides until it is nice and flat and really firmly pressed in so that your base holds together and doesn't end up crumbly later.
- Put the cheesecake base in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes while you make the filling.
Make the caramel cheesecake filling
- Start by measuring out mascarpone cheese and double cream and add them both to a large mixing bowl or a free-standing mixer. Using the whisk attachment of your free-standing mixer, or a hand held whisk, whip the mascarpone and double cream together until your mixture is nice and smooth and has formed soft peaks.
Add the icing sugar, vanilla and caramel
- Measure out the icing sugar and vanilla and add it to your mixing bowl.Spoon in the caramel.Whisk everything into your mixture one last time so it is well combined and has thickened up. If you find it easier, you can use a spatula to get it all well mixed in. Make sure you stop mixing it when it's well combined so it doesn't end up over-mixed.
Prepare the bananas
- Peel and slice the bananas, then lay the banana pieces over the top of your biscuit base.
Make the banoffee cheesecake
- Spoon or pour the caramel cheesecake mixture onto your prepared biscuit base over the top of the banana layer. Spread it out and level the top with a spatula, the back of a spoon or a small palette knife.Cover the cheesecake with cling film / glad wrap and chill it for at least two hours, but preferably over night.
Decorate the banoffee cheesecake
- Start by carefully removing the cheesecake from the tin and put it on a serving plate. If you have a loose bottomed tin, set it on top of a cup and gently press down until the base comes away.
- To decorate the cheesecake, whip the double/whipping cream until it forms soft peeks. Add it to a piping bag and pipe on a few swirls. Top them with slices of banana.
- Finally, drizzle a little more of the caramel over the top, serve and enjoy.
Notes
If you're unsure what you're looking for in soft peaks, you want the mixture to be thick enough to hold very briefly if you lift the whisk up, before the cream then flops back down on itself again.