Mouthfull Of Temptation: Banana Cream Pie

It's May. The sun is shining. The flowers are blooming. The birds are chirping and everything is just soooo nice right now. Well, it was when this post was SUPPOSED to be posted. I'm a bit of a procrastinator... not to mention all the things that I have going on right now. So let's just ignore all the going ons of life at the moment and just ENJOY ourselves! Time to indulge in a Banana Cream Pie.

Ready? Go!

(P.S. : From the second that I put the finished pie out on the countertop to be consumed until the point that it was completely scarfed down was less than 48 hours. So don't be shy if you want a piece! Go ahead and cut yourself a big slice. You won't regret it.)

BANANA CREAM PIE

Adapted from Joy The Baker

TART CRUST:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

9 tablespoons (that's 1 stick + 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, frozen and cut into cubes

2 egg yolks

FILLING:

2 cups milk

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup sifted cornstarch

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 ripe bananas, sliced

OPTIONAL: if you want you can also add strawberries, in which case downsize to two bananas and add about ten fresh strawberries, sliced.

TOPPING:

Tablespoon cocoa

Whipped cream out of a can

-OR-

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TO MAKE THE CRUST:

Butter a 9-inch pie pan (i used a fluted pan with removable bottom - the removable bottom is the best. It allows for easier removal of the pie from the pan later on. lovelovelove it!! )

Combine the flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a bowl. Beat together with a mixer until combined. Distribute the butter over the mixture and blend with the mixture until it is coarsely cut in. Different sizes of butter will be present in the dough. Beat the egg yolk and add it little by little to the mixture. Mix the dough until it starts to form clumps. Knead the dough just enough to incorporate any dry ingredients that may have managed to have not been mixed in.

Evenly press the dough into the pan, making sure to cover the bottom and sides. You want the pieces to cling to one another, but not to combine it all together into one big mass for you want it to maintain its crumbly texture. Freeze for at least 30 minutes before baking.

When ready to bake:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of foil and put the foil (butterside down) tightly against the frozen crust. This is to help prevent the crust from rising. Bake for about 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and then return to oven to bake for another 8 to 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the crust for it tends to brown quickly. When done remove from oven and let cool completely before filling.

TO MAKE THE FILLING:

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan. WATCH THE MILK. Milk has a lower boiling point and will therefore boil quicker and tends to boil over if not watched.

While the milk is being heated, whisk together the yolks, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large, heavy-bottom saucepan. The mixture will be very thick. Continue whisking and slowly pour about 1/4 of the milk into the mixture, this is to warm the eggs so that they don't cook and curdle. Continue adding the milk whilst always whisking.

Place the pan on medium heat and continue whisking (just keep whisking just keep whisking just keep whisking whisking whisking...) and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for about a minute and keep whisking and then remove the pan from the heat. (TIP: the custard will start to thicken quickly once it starts to boil. Feel free to remove it from the heat for a little to whisk it smooth before continuing.)

Add in the vanilla extract and let it sit for five minutes. Then add in the butter and stir until it is completely incorporated and the custard is smooth and silky. Put the custard in a medium bowl, cover with a wrap so that the plastic touches the surface, and then put in the fridge until it is completely cool throughout. (Custard can be refrigerated up to three days. Personally, I loved custard. So you can either decide to just make the custard and eat it plain, or to make extra to eat at some later time... or whilst baking the pie!)

When everything has cooled then you're finally ready to assemble the pie! Slice the bananas (and strawberries if you want) and whisk the custard to loosen it up a bit. (Yes, there IS a lot of whisking involved in making this pie! Don't worry, it's totally worth it.)

Add a handful of BANANAS to the custard filling and fold in.

Arrange a layer of banana slices (and strawberry slices) on the bottom of the crust. Pour the custard on top of that. Smooth it out and put it in the fridge until ready to serve, at which point you will be adding whipped cream.

TO MAKE THE TOPPING:

There are two possibilities:

1) You can be lazy like me and just use whipped cream out of a can. That works wonders. Simple. Elegant. What more could you ask for?

2) You can choose to be a bit more productive in the kitchen and make your own whipped cream topping. For this scenario you will need to pour the whipping cream into a bowl. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and with a hand mixer whisk (MORE WHISKING! [; ) until it is stiff.

Put on top of pie. Sprinkle with a little cocoa for looks. Put in front of family member/friend/human and be ready to be worshipped. Easy as pie.

This is what the pie should look like before it is frozen...