Poor Dave. His favorite dessert is banana cream pie, and I just don’t make it very often. For one thing, it’s kind of a lot of work, what with the crust and the pastry cream and the whipped topping. (Okay, so whipped cream isn’t hard to make. But still.) Plus, it doesn’t have a long shelf life and it isn’t an easy recipe to scale down, so it’s tricky to make for just the two of us. I pretty much only make banana cream pie on his birthday.
To avoid watery separated whipped cream and old browned bananas, I made and baked the pie crust and spread the pastry cream in it, without adding the bananas and topping. I sliced bananas and whipped cream each time we ate pie, instead of doing it all at once.
A number of people have said that their pastry cream was too thick, and they added extra milk to thin it. I think I’ll use less cornstarch instead. It seemed like there was a little chalkiness in the pastry cream, which I’m thinking is due to undissolved cornstarch.
Other than that, I thought the pie was really good. The cinnamon and nutmeg in the pastry cream was subtle; in the future, I think I’ll keep the nutmeg, but maybe not the cinnamon. The small amount of sour cream in the whipped cream added a nice tangy flavor. With just the two of us, it took us, um, less than 2 days to get through the whole pie. Maybe I didn’t need to worry about the pie not storing well after all…
I’ll be sure to make this again. Next year. For Dave’s birthday.
Amy, who chose this recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie, has the recipe posted.
One year ago: Scotch Eggs
It’s funny how husbands seem to request the same desserts. David has been requesting Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake Tiramisu lately. Maybe I’ll be nice and not make him wait until his birthday in August 🙂 Anyway, your pie looks great!
Banana Cream Pie is my favorite! I love your idea of not putting on the bananas and whip cream till it’s ready to eat. Ingenious! Great, that’s all I need a way to be able to eat it all the time! Thank you for the tip, no seriously, THANK YOU!
Your pie looks beautiful!
Your pie looks fabulous! Nice thick slices of banana. Yum!
Glad that you liked it overall; and lucky Dave!! 😀
Looks amazing and I love how crisp and clean your pics are!
Your pie looks amazing! This recipe is a bit of work but it yields a delicious result 🙂
What a great dessert. I like your pictures.
Your pie looks wonderful. I’m glad you both liked it.
This is my absolute favorite too! And… like you, mine never lasts very long.
Your pie looks terrific. I love the idea of the last minute assembly as you make your way through the pie – that is a great idea.
Looks Great! My pie was devoured within hours, so I didn’t have to contend with any browned bananas.
Looks great! I’m sure your DH is thrilled to have had the pie!
Great idea to put the naners and cream on as you eat. Looks just right.
This pie looks amazing! Nice job.
It looks great! I love your idea of adding the cream and bananas right before serving.
I like the idea of finishing the assembly right before serving – it looks absolutely perfect!