It’s been a big week for pies and tarts around here! I have been dying to make my grandmother’s chocolate pie again (I need to post the recipe here!), then decided to do some sort of berry pie; I asked Joseph what his favorite pie was and he said he liked banana cream pie and key lime pie. I’d never had either, so I had to make them both instead, on the same day!
Banana cream pie is now my absolute favorite dessert! I am going to have to make these again next week; hopefully the meringue will fluff next time.
I made these in my six-inch tart pans with removable bottoms.
Nilla Wafer Crust
40 Nabisco Nilla Wafers, finely crushed. I placed mine in a bag and beat them with a rolling pin
¼ butter or margarine, melted
1 Tbs sugarThroughly mix wafer crumbs, sugar, and butter. Press into even layer against bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate or three 6-inch tart pans. Bake at 375F (190C) for 6-8 minutes.
I ended up having to make a completely different pastry crust from scratch half-way through cooking the cream because this recipe only filled three tart pans. Maybe I just make my crust extra-thick, but you might want to prepare to have extra cookies in case you run out of crust.
Banana Cream Pie from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook
Pastry shell of your choice
4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
2 ½ cups half-and-half, light cream, or milk
1 Tbs butter or margarine
1 ½ tsp vanilla
3 medium bananasPrepare crust of your choice. Set aside yolks for filling and whites for meringue.
Preheat over to 325F (165C). For filling, in a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in half-and-half. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly; reduce heat. Cook and stir for two minutes more. Remove from heat. Slightly beat egg yolks with a fork. Gradually stir about one cup of the hot filling into yolks. Add egg yolk mixture to saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil; reduce heat. Cook and stir for two minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Keep filling warm and prepare meringue.
Arranged sliced bananas along bottom of crust. Pour cream on top and spread with meringue. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack one hour. Chill for 3 to 6 hours before serving. Who am I kidding? I ate these immediately!
Meringue
4 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ cup sugarBeat egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar in a large mixing bowl until soft peaks form, about one minute. Gradually add sugar, beating on high speed about four minutes more or until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks and sugar dissolves. Spread over hot pie filling.
Tips: Learn from my mistake–do not use a plastic bowl! I’ve made meringue successfully once, with a glass bowl. Always use a thoroughly dried glass or metal bowl. My meringue did not form stiff peaks, partially because I don’t have a proper beater (I use a little bitty electric egg beater! I’m waiting for when I move to the US and can buy a KitchenAid Artisan mixer!), but mainly because I only had plastic bowls. It tasted just the same but didn’t look quite as nice.
Next up: the Key Lime Pies I made on the same day!
You’re killing me!!! I can’t believe you had never had banana cream or key lime pie!!!
This looks wonderful! My dd is a great fan of Key Lime Pie. I can’t wait to try this because I’ve never had Banana Cream anything before! Oh Yummie!
This pie looks delicious! One day when I’m brave enough I might try to make it!
I cannot believe you tackled two pies in one day. I recently tried my hand at Lemon Meringue Pie and even with my mother’s help, it was all I could do to juggle each of the components. Of course, I have a few “helpers” under the age of 6, so that probably presented its own unique set of challenges! The banana cream pie looks delicious. (Some thoughts on meringue: start with egg whites that are room temperature–they’ll hold a peak better. And also, consider tempering the meringue. Check out this link, step #9 for details: http://tinyurl.com/onf2cs)
Anyway, I found you on TasteSpotting and am writing to say that if you have any photos that aren’t accepted there, I’d love to publish them. Visit my new site (below), it’s a lot of fun! I hope you will consider it.
Best,
Casey
Editor
http://www.tastestopping.wordpress.com
Ah yes I did let them sit at room temperature! The only appropriately sized bowl I had that wasn’t plastic broke a couple weeks ago, so I knew it wouldn’t turn out right. It was definitely a struggle–especially as I made them both at the same time and have a pathetically small kitchen. I should have taken photos of the mess afterwards! Three different pie crusts, two fillings, and one meringue all in the same hour!
I might take you up on that–about half of my photos aren’t accepted!
Those banana cream tarts look so good!