Banoffee Plant Pots

I love making this dessert for the kids, who are sure to take utter delight in eating out of a flower pot! To add to the novelty you can put little edible flowers on top or sugared flowers sticking out. You could even play a game by hiding the pots around the picnic area and get the kids to hunt them out, rather like an Easter egg hunt, but a flower pot hunt! You can also make them in glasses, if you prefer.

225g digestive biscuits
120g unsalted butter
2 x 397g cans caramel condensed milk or dulce de leche
300ml double cream
3 ripe bananas, finely sliced
175g chocolate (preferably plain), grated

To decorate the pots:
A small handful of fresh mint sprigs
Edible flowers (such as violets or nasturtiums)
8 x clean, 8cm-diameter, 7cm high, terracotta plant pots or Similar sized glasses

Serves 8

Break the biscuits into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to a fine crumb. Alternatively, put them in a plastic bag and pound them with a rolling pin.

Gently melt the butter in a large saucepan, taking off the heat as soon as it is liquid. Pour the crumbs into the saucepan and mix well with the melted butter.

Put a small slice of banana in the bottom of the plant pot to cover the drain hole, then spoon the buttery crumb mixture evenly between the pots. Using the back of a dessert spoon, press the mixture down firmly, then pop them in the fridge for about an hour.

Whip the double cream until it thickens into soft pillowy peaks. Divide the caramel condensed milk between the eight pots, stopping about 2cm below the top of the plant pot. Over the caramel, layer a good helping of sliced banana and lastly spoon in a dollop of whipped cream to fill the pots right to the top.  This is the fun bit: Use a knife to scrape the top of the cream away so it is level with the rims of the pots, then cover the top of the pots liberally with grated chocolate, which resembles earth.

Garnish the tops with sprigs of mint poked into the cream to look like leaves and a sprinkling of edible flowers.