Ok I’m a big fan of banana cream pie. I had a coworker when I was in college who was sweet enough to make it for me for my birthday. Again this is one I modified from an existing recipe. I didn’t like the way the filling turned out as it was pretty much plain vanilla. I guess all the banana flavor was supposed to come from the slices of banana in the pie. Uh no. So I added a little banana liqueur and it made a huge difference. Enjoy!

Banana Cream Pie:

• 1 pie crust, baked (recipe below)
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3⁄4 cup white sugar
• 1⁄3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 or 4 bananas
• 2 tbsp banana liqueur

Directions :

In a medium bowl lightly beat the 3 egg yolks and set aside.

In large saucepan, combine the sugar, flour and salt.

In a medium saucepan, scald* the milk. Gradually stir in the scalded milk with the sugar/flour mixture. Over medium heat, stirring constantly, cook until thickened. Cook for another minute or two.

Stir a small amount of the hot mixture into beaten yolks a little at a time. Do this until you have incorporated about 1 to ½ cups. Then stir yolk mixture into the milk/flour/sugar. Add 2 tbsp of banana liqueur.

Cook for one minute longer, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and blend in the butter and vanilla.

Let sit until lukewarm.

When ready to pour, slice bananas and line the bottom in pie shell; pour ½ of the warm mixture over bananas. Add another layer of bananas and pour the rest of the mixture into the shell.

Chill for at least 1 hour then enjoy. Optional: use the 3 egg whites to make a meringue or top with whip cream, this is what I do (recipe below).

*So what does “scald” mean anyway? You heat the milk up until really hot but not boiling or even simmering. Be careful, you don’t want to scorch the milk either.

Pie Crust

• 6 tbsp cutter cut into small cubes
• 2 tbsp lard in small chunks
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup ice water
• Approx 32 ounces of dried beans
• Aluminum foil

Directions:

This is a basic pie crust recipe. You can use any recipe you want or go to the store and buy pre-made ones. This one is pretty much from Alton Brown but I don’t use his directions on combining the ingredients or putting the shell together. I tried it and it was a disaster.

Put the butter and lard in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes before making the crust. I tend to cut it up into small cubes or chunks when cold and then chill again, it’s easier to cut that way.

In a food processor combine flour and salt, pulse 3 to 4 times. Add butter and pulse until combines, should look like chunky sand. Add lard and pulse until the lard is combined, should still look like chunky sand. Add water a tablespoon at a time and pulse 3 to 4 times. You want to add as little water as possible, only enough until the dough starts to come together and form a rough ball in the processor.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. While waiting put your pie pan and a cookie sheet in the freezer.

Roll the dough out to form a rough circle, try to do this quickly. The idea here is to not work it so much that the butter and lard in the dough melt into the flour. You want a circle that a couple of inches bigger than your pie pan, so if using a 9 inch pan a circle about 11 or 12 inches. Put it on the cold cookie sheet for a few minutes. This will suck out any heat from your rolling it out. Transfer it to the cold pie pan and cut the excess off the edges. You can shape it with those fancy curves first if you like.

Poke some hole in the bottom with a fork. Mold the foil to the crust and fill it with the beans, this will help prevent bubbles in your crust. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. Remove the beans & foil and bake for another 10 or so minutes in lightly brown. Remove and cool.

Banana whip cream

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp banana liqueur
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Whatever bowl you’re going to use put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes before hand. This really does help with the whipping process. I use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment but you can use a regular old beater. Whip the cream at medium-low speed for a couple of minutes and then slowly start to increase the speed until it starts to thicken. Once you get soft peaks then add the banana liqueur and beat some more until those soft peaks come back. Beat a little more until the peaks get firmer and then slowly add the powdered sugar. Beat until stiff.