Millionaire's Banoffee Tarts

I'm so thrilled to finally reveal what I've been up to this past weekend: a special recipe for this Easter that will wow your family and your guests. These Millionaire's Banoffee Tarts go directly to my Top 5 favorite recipes of all times! They are a decadent, delicious and mouth-watering hybrid of two classic recipes: the Banoffee Tart and the Millionaire's Pie. It's like having the best of both in just one plate!
Let me describe you what these cuties are made of: a base of rich chocolate cake sprinkled with dark chocolate chunks, a layer of banana slices covered with one more layer of Chocolate Dulce de Leche and to raise the bar a little higher...the top layer is a disc of crunchy dark chocolate.

The recipe makes 4 large servings and this is a very rich dessert so you will feel full with one half, believe me. I couldn't even move after eating! But when you taste this tarts you just can't  have a small slice, and that combination of moist, creamy and crunchy is simply irresistible. My dad is not very fond of bananas and he ate the whole thing in just one day, he didn't even make his strange face nor asked me what was in it.

I suggest you to prepare this dessert a couple days before you serve them and make the chocolate dulce de leche in advance, the rest (cake base and layers) can be done one day before.

The recipe is from my favorite chocolate cookbook: Vegan Chocolate by Fran Costigan, it's her latest cookbook and a must-have if you are a chocoholic and a lover of luscious, tempting and beautifully served desserts as I am. Wether you are vegan or not (I don't follow a strict vegan diet) you seriously need this book in your life, and I swear no one payed me to write that, it's not my style. I simply love this book!

The recipes are very easy to understand and very detailed: from the step by step to how to serve and keep your desserts...and most importantly, you'll be thrilled by the results cause they all look so professional! The recipes I tried so far came out as good as Fran's.

Pure. Chocolate. Bliss.

Now let's get into the recipe!

Happy Easter!

Receta en español aquí!

Millionaire's Banoffee Tarts
(recipe adapted from 'Vegan Chocolate' by Fran Costigan)

Ingredients
(makes 4 large servings)
1 recipe Chocolate Torte (recipe here).
6 tbsp dark chocolate, coarsely chopped.
3 medium ripe bananas (but not overripe).
1 recipe Chocolate Dulce de Leche (recipe here).
8 ounces melted dark chocolate.

Notes:

The recipe originally calls for 1/2 cup of cake crumbs but I wanted to make my tarts a little taller so I added 1 cup of cake crumbs to each one. 

My ring molds are also a tad bit taller than the ones Fran uses: mine are 4 x 1.77 inches (10 x 4.5cm), the recipe calls for 4 x 1.5-inch (10 x 3.8cm) ring molds.

I added 3 bananas instead of 2 large ones (depends on the size).

Directions

Line up four 4 x 1.7-inch (10 x 4.5cm) ring molds on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. 

Put 1 cup of the cake crumbs into each ring and press down to make a compact layer.

Melt the dark chocolate in a water bath (doube boiler method) and keep it warm.

Sprinkle the cake crumbs with about 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped chocolate.

Cut the bananas into rounds 1/2 inch (I cut them around 1cm) thick and place on the chocolate chunks to cover, distributing evenly among the ring molds.

Spoon 4 to 5 tablespoons of the Chocolate Dulce de Leche over the bananas to cover.

Pour 3 tablespoons melted chocolate over the Dulce, spreading to the edges of the ring. Refrigerate until the chocolate disk is set, about 30 minutes.

To remove the ring molds carefully run a knife between the sides of the mold and the chocolate. Press down on the chocolate disk to release the ring and lift it off. Put them on a serving plate with the help of a cake lifter.

Melt some chocolate and decorate with drizzles.

The tarts can be made up to a day ahead and refrigerated, but remember to let them sit at room temperature for up to 2 hours. As I told you in my previous post, the Dulce de Leche must be kept refrigerated and it hardens a lot. That's why you need to allow the tarts to come to room temperature so the Dulce gets soft again.