Jamie Oliver Banoffee Fro-yo Tart

Jamie Oliver’s banoffee fro-yo tart is a no-bake reimagining of banoffee pie: a date and almond base layered with caramel, lime-tossed banana and vanilla Greek yoghurt, then briefly frozen. It’s gluten-free and serves 10, in 15 minutes.

In Simply Jamie (2024) the twist is that nothing is cooked and there’s no pastry. The base is blitzed dates and almonds pressed into the tray, and the topping is Greek yoghurt rather than whipped cream, which makes it lighter and tangier than the classic.

The bit that makes it work is the freeze. It goes into the fridge, then just one hour in the freezer, so the yoghurt firms up softly set but still sliceable. That short window is the whole “fro-yo” idea, and it’s why you serve it straight away.

Jamie Oliver Banoffee Fro-yo Tart

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Calories

328

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

15

minutes

Jamie’s no-bake tart from Simply Jamie: a blitzed date-and-almond base layered with caramel, lime-tossed banana and vanilla Greek yoghurt, briefly frozen and finished with dark chocolate. Gluten-free, serves ten.

Ingredients

• 200g (7 oz) soft pitted dates

• 200g (7 oz) flaked almonds

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ½ x 397g tin of caramel

• 2 ripe bananas (200g total)

• ½ a lime

• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

• 500g (1 lb 2 oz) Greek yoghurt

• 50g (1¾ oz) quality dark chocolate (70%)

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Directions

• Make the base:Blitz the dates, almonds and cinnamon in a food processor until fine and tacky. Tip onto a large sheet of greaseproof paper, fold the paper over, and roll out to a 26cm x 32cm rectangle, just under ½cm thick.
• Line the tray:Lift it, paper and all, into a deep 24cm x 30cm tray. Ease it into the corners and use the back of a spoon to push it up the sides.
• Layer up:Spread the caramel evenly across the base. Peel and slice the bananas, toss with the grated zest and juice of the lime, and layer over the caramel. Mix the vanilla into the yoghurt and spoon over the top.
• Chill and freeze:Keep in the fridge until an hour before serving, then move to the freezer for 1 hour, so it’s softly set but still sliceable. Serve straight away, with shavings of dark chocolate.

Notes

• Chill/freeze: Fridge, then 1 hour in the freezer
• Diet: Gluten-free, vegetarian

FAQs

Why freeze it for only an hour?

That short freeze is the trick the whole dessert hangs on. An hour is just long enough for the Greek yoghurt to firm up so you can cut clean slices, but not so long that it sets into a rock-hard block you can’t get a knife or spoon through.

Do the fridge stage first so it’s already cold going in, then set a timer for the hour. Serve it the moment it comes out, because it softens quickly at room temperature. If you freeze it much longer, leave it out for a few minutes to soften before slicing.

What holds the base together with no pastry?

Soft dates and flaked almonds do all the work. Blitzed together, the sticky dates bind the almonds into a tacky mixture you can roll out like pastry between two sheets of paper. There’s no flour and no baking, which is what makes the tart naturally gluten-free.

Press it firmly into the corners and up the sides with the back of a spoon, so it holds its shape when sliced. Use genuinely soft dates, like Medjool, since dry ones won’t bind. If yours are firm, soak them in warm water for a few minutes first.

Why toss the banana in lime?

The lime does two jobs. Its acid stops the sliced banana browning while the tart sits and chills, keeping it looking fresh. It also cuts through the sweetness of the caramel and dates, so the whole thing tastes bright rather than sickly.

Use both the zest and the juice, and reach for ripe bananas for the best flavour. Toss the slices well so every piece is coated before you layer them over the caramel. It’s a small step that keeps a very sweet dessert in balance.

Can I make it ahead, and does it keep?

You can assemble it fully and keep it in the fridge, then do the one-hour freeze just before serving, which suits a dinner party well. The base, caramel and banana layers are happy chilled for a few hours ahead.

What it doesn’t do is survive being frozen solid and thawed, since the yoghurt weeps and the banana softens. So treat it as assemble-ahead, serve-soon rather than a make-days-ahead freezer dessert. For a pud you can bake in advance, pear and blackberry crumble keeps far better.

What caramel and yoghurt should I use?

Use half a 397g tin of ready-made caramel, the thick dulce de leche kind sold beside the condensed milk, so there’s no cooking. It spreads straight over the base. Save the other half for another tart or to swirl through the yoghurt.

For the top, use thick, full-fat Greek yoghurt, not thin natural yoghurt, or it won’t hold a sliceable set even after freezing. The two teaspoons of vanilla bean paste lift it from plain yoghurt into something that reads as a proper dessert cream.

How does it compare to a classic banoffee pie?

It’s a lighter, fresher take. A traditional banoffee pie has a buttery biscuit or pastry base and a thick layer of whipped cream, whereas this swaps in a no-bake date base and tangy frozen yoghurt. You get the banana-and-toffee flavour with less richness.

If you’d rather the proper baked version, make a banoffee with Jamie’s reliable sweet shortcrust pastry as the case.