I have always liked Banana Cream Pie, but it was just really vanilla pudding and bananas held together in a crust. Boxed Pudding mixes tasted so artificial. I found this fun way to improve Banana Cream Pie. It is better because the bananas are seeped into the milk which makes the pudding banana flavored with a real banana taste. It was a great success; the grandkids pronounced it “WOW Yummier”.
Banana Cream Pie 1 ripe banana 2 Cups Milk ¾ Cup Sugar 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch ¼ teaspoon salt ½ Cup Heavy Cream 3 Egg yolks, in a small bowl 2 Tablespoon Butter 1 teaspoon Vanilla 2 Firm bananas 1 Baked and Cooled pie Crust (9-inch)
In a heavy saucepan heat the milk until hot but not boiling. Remove from heat and slice the ripe banana into the hot milk. Let steep 30 minutes.
In another heavy saucepan combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt, stir to combine. Put a strainer over this pan and pour the hot milk into the pan. Discard the heated bananas. Add the cream. Whisk this mixture over med. heat until thickened. Remove from heat; stir about 1 cup of hot mixture into the small bowl of egg yolks. Quickly mix together and then immediately return the egg mixture to the hot milk mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for three minutes. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Stir until butter is melted. Let pudding cool for 20 minutes. Slice 2 more bananas into 1 Tablespoon of orange juice, stir. This will prevent browning of the bananas.
Pour ½ of the pudding into the cooled pie shell. Arrange the sliced bananas on top of the pudding. Pour the remaining pudding on top of the bananas. Smooth the pudding over the bananas, cover with waxed paper and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours. Slice and serve with sweetened whipped cream.
**BANANA PUDDING: Prepare pudding as directed above. Place vanilla wafers into the bottom of a large glass bowl or individual glass dishes make layers of vanilla wafers, then pudding, then bananas and then end with pudding. Cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the top of the pudding. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Just before serving top with sweetened whipped cream.
*The pudding alone is Gluten Free. You can make a Gluten Free pie crust.
Let me know if you enjoy this recipe! Jan@DairyKeen.com