Banoffee bonds banana cream pie and toffee

Vacation beckons; time to pack the swimsuit and beach novel into the portmanteau. The two-part suitcase once carried cloaks, as its name suggests. Now it carries two words smashed together.

Lewis Carroll, who routinely stepped through the looking glass, was keen on the portmanteau. Jabberwocky is thick with them, from mimsy (miserable and flimsy) to fumious (fuming and furious).

The portmanteau isn’t reserved for the fumious poet. The rest of us routinely crash-test words. Consider skort, spork and smog. Why bother with two words when one is more fun?

In the kitchen we’re fond of banoffee, conceived when American banana cream pie winked at English toffee. It’s a ridiculous pileup: crumb crust, tacky toffee, sliced bananas and whipped cream. It’s crunchy, creamy, sweet, smooth and absolutely splendicious.

Banoffee Tart

Prep: 1 hour plus time to chill. Bake: 20 minutes. Makes: One 9-inch tart

Also cute as 24 individual tarts baked in a mini-muffin pan. Decrease shell baking time to 6-8 minutes and increase patience to maximum.

• For the shell:

12 digestive biscuits (such as McVitie’s) or graham cracker squares

5 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons sugar

• For the caramel:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup whipping cream, hot

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut up

1 tablespoon bourbon (or vanilla extract)

• For the top:

2 bananas, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds

1 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

Bake: To make the shell, tumble biscuits, butter and sugar into the food processor. Pulse to damp crumbs. Dump crumbs into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press firmly along the bottom and sides of the pan. Bake at 350 degrees until darkened and fragrant, about 20-22 minutes. Cool (in the pan).

Caramelize: To make the caramel, stir together the sugar, water and salt in a medium (10-inch) nonstick skillet. Set over medium-high heat, without stirring. Over the course of about 3 minutes, the mixture will turn from cloudy to clear, bubble and then begin to color. Swirl pan until caramel turns an even tan. Slowly and carefully (mixture will bubble madly) pour in hot cream, stirring constantly. Stir in butter. Lower heat to medium and cook until caramel reaches the soft-ball stage (240 degrees on a candy thermometer or when a bit dripped into a saucer of cool water forms a soft blob). Pull pan off heat. Stir in bourbon.

Chill: Pour caramel into baked shell. Chill several hours.

Gild: Dot pie with sliced bananas. Whip cream and 1 tablespoon sugar to sturdy peaks. Smooth over pie. Remove sides of pan and serve.

Note: Instead of using fresh banana slices, you can caramelize them, if you like. Press each banana coin into sugar, set on a baking sheet and run under the boiler, 1-2 minutes