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Banana cream pie

(recipe, Adriana Velez)

Ingredients

  1. Crust
  2. * 2½ cups graham cracker crumbs
  3. * ⅓ cup sugar
  4. * ¼ cup mashed banana
  5. * ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
  6. Filling
  7. * ½ cup sugar
  8. * ⅓ cup cornstarch
  9. * ¼ teaspoon salt
  10. * 1½ cups whipping cream
  11. * 1½ cups whole milk
  12. * 3 large egg yolks
  13. * ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  14. * 2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter
  15. * 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  16. * 5 ripe bananas (about 1½ pounds total), peeled, cut crosswise into ¼-inch-thick slices

Steps

  1. For crust:
  2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and mashed banana in large bowl to blend. Add unsalted butter and stir to moisten evenly. Press onto bottom and up sides of 10-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
  3. Bake crust until set and pale golden, about 15 minutes. Cool completely.
  4. For filling:
  5. Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Gradually whisk in whipping cream and whole milk, then egg yolks. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add vanilla bean. Whisk over medium-high heat until custard thickens and boils, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in unsalted butter and vanilla extract. Discard vanilla bean. Transfer custard to large bowl; cool completely, whisking occasionally, about 1 hour.
  6. Stir custard to loosen, if necessary. Spread 1 cup custard over bottom of prepared crust. Top with half of sliced bananas, then 1 cup custard, covering bananas completely. Repeat layering with remaining bananas and remaining custard. Chill banana cream pie until filling is set and crust softens slightly, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. Cut pie into wedges and serve.