Banana Cream Pie is the New Birthday Cake

The best banana cream pie is made with loads of bananas! Just a few slices at the bottom will not do. Then top with homemade vanilla custard and heaps of whipped cream.

Centuries back, when my sweetie and I started dating, we came to the inevitable first birthday celebration. Of course, I was going to make him a birthday cake.

“What kind of cake would you like,” I asked.
“I don’t really have a favorite,” he replied.
“Well, when you were a child, what kind of cake did you always ask for?”
“I didn’t get to choose,” he says. “My mother just organized the cake.”

To say I was appalled was putting it mildly. In my family of origin, birthdays were a big deal. The birthday person got to choose the cake, what we did that day, and even the dinner meal plan.  A restaurant or dinner at home. AND what was served, if the choice was meal at home.  Or what restaurant if it was a meal out.

Now I am not saying that my mother-in-law didn’t take his likes and dislikes into account, because she surely loves her son and would have chosen something he liked but, for me, it wasn’t the same.  So, that first year, I made him my childhood birthday cake of choice: Chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

As I got to know him better, I did find out what his favorite sweet treat is:  Banana Cream Pie.  Apparently, I just wasn’t asking the right question. And forever after, that is what he gets on his birthday instead of cake.

Ingredients

1 9-inch baked piecrust (Follow this link for instructions.)
1⁄2 cup or 110g sugar
1⁄3 cup or 42g all-purpose flour
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
2 1⁄4 cups or 530ml milk
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon or 15g butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3-4 medium bananas (or 7-9 small ones)
1 cup or 240ml heavy whipping cream - for serving

Method

Prepare piecrust and allow to cool. (Or you can prepare your piecrust during the four hours the filling needs to set and cool.  Your choice.  But know that making this pie for after dinner dessert means starting early in your day!  But it is worth it.  Totally.)

In 2-quart saucepan (no heat!) mix sugar, flour and salt.  Stir in milk until smooth.

Make sure you get ALL the lumps out before turning on the heat. 

Over medium heat, cook mixture, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and begins to boil (about 10 minutes). Boil one minute. Remove immediately from heat and set aside.

See the tiny bubbles?  It's gently boiling.

Separate your egg yolks from your whites, by gently transferring the yolk from one half of the shell to the other, putting the whites directly into a sealable plastic container for the refrigerator.  (We will make almond macaroons with these soon!)  Put the yolks in a bowl with enough room to whisk.

Beat egg yolks quickly with a whisk, while drizzling in about a 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture.   Quick beating and slow drizzling are essential so that you don’t end up with cooked eggs. 

Slowly pour egg mixture into the saucepan, stirring rapidly to prevent lumping.

I know it doesn't look like I was quickly stirring but that is just because I fake poured for
the camera and then really poured and stirred like crazy after. 

Occasionally, scrape the saucepan with a rubber spatula.

Over low heat, cook, stirring constantly, until very thick (do not boil) and mixture mounds when dropped from spoon.

Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla.  

Congratulations, you have made homemade vanilla custard.  Once the butter has melted, pour the custard into a metal bowl.  Cover its surface with plastic wrap to prevent skin forming.  Refrigerate until set, about four hours.

Once your custard is cool, you can peel your bananas.  Cut medium ones in half lengthwise and leave small ones whole.  Spread a little of the custard in the bottom of your baked piecrust and then add a layer of bananas.  

Spread the rest of the custard all over the bananas, making sure to fill in the gaps so that there is no air around the bananas.  This will prevent them from going brown.

Securely cover the custard with plastic wrap once more and put the pie back in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

Just before serving: In small bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream until stiff peaks form. This cream does not need to be sweetened since the bananas and the custard are sweet. Discard plastic wrap.

Spread cream on pie. Candle optional.

Enjoy!

Happy birthday to my dear husband!  If you need a smaller pie, try my personal banana cream pie, a 7-inch version. It makes two generous servings.

Holding the hound up so he can help blow out the candle. 

And instead of dropping to the ground, when let go, Beso goes in for a bite.  Faster than the blink of an eye.

Flakiest Baked Piecrust

This baked piecrust is for those pies with filling that doesn’t get baked. For instance, banana cream or chocolate pudding and the like.  It is light and flakey and identical to my regular piecrust, you just bake it empty or “blind” (with beans or pastry weights inside to keep it from puffing up) before adding the non-baked filling.

Or stop just before the "blind" bake and fill the crust with your filling of choice. (I'd like to recommend quiche for a savory option or pecan pie for a sweet one.)  Then bake according to recipe instructions. 

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups or 156g all-purpose flour
1⁄4 cup plus 2 tablespoons or a little shy of 70g shortening (I prefer Crisco, when I can get it.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

 

Method

Preheat oven to 425°F or 220°C.

 

In medium bowl with fork, lightly stir together flour and salt.

With pastry blender, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle in cold water, a tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition until pastry just holds together.












With hands, shape pastry into a ball. Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate 30 minutes.




Pop your dough ball into one of these handy devices, with a generous sprinkling of flour or on lightly floured surface with lightly floured rolling pin, roll pastry into circle 1⁄8 inch thick and about 2 inches larger all around than pie plate.

My piecrust bag is 12 inches and perfect for a normal pie pan, but the smaller size seems hard to find these days.





Transfer to pie plate, easing into bottom and side of plate. Fold overhang under; pinch to form a decorative edge.











Prick bottom and side of crust all over with a fork, to prevent puffing during baking. Cut a circle of parchment paper to lay inside and fill with pie weights or dried beans.







Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool for a couple of minutes and then carefully remove the hot weights or beans and put them in a heat resistant bowl to cool. The beans can be saved in a Ziploc for future use as pie weights. Of course, the pie weights are reusable too.









Fill with the unbaked filling of your preference. In our family, we prefer banana cream.





Enjoy!