Friday 6 April 2012

Banana Cream Pie

Banana Cream Pie - A Love Affair


I often find myself overwhelmed by the amount of recipes there are out there. I literally get lost sorting through the endless options on All Recipes and distracted by the glorious photos on Martha Stewart website (food and bridal, oops). 


Ah, distracted already. How can they seriously have so many cute things on that site?! Martha Stewart, you get me every time. Puppies in Easter outfits? Yes, please! 


Speaking of puppies and all things adorable. 

Wrinkles. But, seriously, back to the dessert. Right. So among the never-ending, drool-worthy dessert options online, I found myself spending more time looking at all of  the amazing things I could bake than I spent actually baking them! I wanted to improve my skills and earn some proper clout among my baker friends, but the recipes I was leaning toward where just like what I had made before and the desserts I desperately wanted to eat had far too intimidating recipes for me to self select. 


I was at a standstill. Perhaps you can relate. Baker on the edge of amazing. Push, please. 


So I called my boyfriend. I asked him what his favourite dessert was and if I could make it for him. I had to twist his arm on that one, as you can imagine. His answer: Banana Cream Pie.


My response: huh?


I had never heard of, let alone tasted, Banana Cream Pie, but I set out to make it all the same.  What I found was something absolutely life-changing! It introduced me to the fabulously easy, yet impressive (always a plus), world of custards. The Graham Cracker base is simple, low maintenance, and always a hit (it's the butter). The Chocolate layer was something that made this recipe stand out from the oodles of other recipes. For an even sweeter version try a layer of white chocolate. It led to my best reviewed Banana Cream Pie... so proud!  




Also, be sure to butter the pie plate before pressing in your Graham Crackers - it will stop the pie slices from crumbling when you take them out! 


I opted out of the whipped cream topping, instead I served some on the side. It let me add this cute, ever-girlish heart to the pie. Awww, cheesy! But, adorable right? Just like wrinkly puppies.   










Here is the Recipe from Canadian Living and, heck, another wrinkly puppy photo. Cant. Stop.



Ingredients

Preparation

Filling: In bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and 1/2 cup (125 mL) of the milk; set aside.
In heavy saucepan, heat remaining milk over medium heat until bubbles form around edge; whisk into yolk mixture. Return to pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until thick enough to mound on spoon, about 5 minutes. Stir in butter and vanilla. Scrape into bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on surface; refrigerate just until cooled, about 2 hours.
In bowl, stir graham wafer crumbs with butter until moistened; press onto bottom and up side of 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Drizzle melted chocolate over bottom of crust; spread evenly with back of spoon. Refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes. Without stirring custard, spoon half over chocolate. Arrange banana slices over top, overlapping slightly. Top with remaining custard. Place plastic wrap directly on surface; refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 12 hours.)
Garnish: In bowl, whip cream. Using piping bag or with spatula, pipe into rosettes or spread to cover top. Sprinkle with grated chocolate. (Make-ahead: Insert 6 toothpicks into pie; drape plastic wrap loosely over top and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.)
Source : Canadian Living Magazine: February 2004


No comments:

Post a Comment