Banoffee Pie

This pie is a traditional English dessert. But never mind. We serve it at our intensely Italian restaurant because this coffee and banana treat, rich and sweet, turns out to be a beautiful punctuation to a meal centered around pizza.

Makes one 9-inch pie

113 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
225 grams (1 cup) graham cracker crumbs (pulverized in a food processor)
10 grams (2 teaspoons) granulated sugar
500 grams (about 2 cups) heavy cream
25 grams (1/4 cup) confectioners’ sugar
2 drops coffee extract or 2 generous pinches instant espresso
3 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced into rounds
60 grams (generous 1/3 cup) hazelnuts, crushed and toasted

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. To prepare the crust, combine thoroughly in a bowl the butter, graham cracker crumbs, and granulated sugar. Press the mixture evenly over the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Combine the cream, confectioners’ sugar, and coffee extract in a mixing bowl and whip until medium peaks form.

4. Cover the crust with sliced bananas and top with the whipped cream. Sprinkle with the hazelnuts. Best served and eaten that day, but can be refrigerated for 1 day.

Excerpted from My Pizza: The Easy No-Knead Way to Make Spectacular Pizza at Home by Jim Lahey and Rick Flaste. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.