Thursday, November 11, 2010

Not your mom's banana pudding pie was . . .

. . . made and served at our farm last night . . . and I'm still thinking about it.


My daughter's been enjoying some of Food Network's shows lately and Ann Thorton from the Dessert First Show and this pie ~ Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Pie caught her taste buds of a 'have to make for the family.'  I'm so glad she did. It's one of those amazing desserts that create a sweet memory.  I've copied the recipe below from here. Enjoy!


Ingredients

  • 1 box vanilla wafers (65 cookies)
  • 6 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 3 large ripe bananas
  • 1 cup salted caramel, plus more for garnish (1 cup caramel, plus 1 teaspoon fleur de sel)
  • Vanilla Pudding, recipe follows
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Put 45 vanilla wafers in a food processor and pulse until the cookies are finely crushed. Reserve 1/2 cup to top the pie. Stir together crushed vanilla wafers and butter in a small bowl until blended. Firmly press it into the bottom, up the sides, and onto the lip of a greased 9-inch pie plate. Bake until lightly browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool until completely cool, about 30 minutes.
Coat the banana slices with salted caramel. Arrange some banana slices evenly over the bottom of the crust. Spread half of the hot, prepared Vanilla Pudding over the bananas, top with vanilla wafers, and more caramel-coated bananas. Spread the remaining filling over the vanilla wafers, and caramel-coated bananas.
In a large bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Add the almond extract, and sugar and beat until peaks form. Make sure not to overbeat, or the cream will become lumpy, and butter-like. Spread the cream over the pies. At service, garnish with a caramel swirl, and the reserved vanilla wafer crumbs.

Vanilla Pudding:

In a bowl whisk together the sugar and flour until all of the lumps are gone. Once it is a fine powder, whisk in the eggs, and egg yolks, and continue whisking until a smooth paste is formed. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of milk, and once this is incorporated add the remaining cup of milk. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan, and cook over medium heat whisking constantly, until it reaches the thickness of chilled pudding, about 10 to 15 minutes. (Mixture will just begin to bubble and will be thick enough to hold soft peaks when the whisk is lifted.) Remove from the heat, and stir in vanilla.

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