Banana Pudding
When many of you told me that Banana Pudding is a ‘must make’ for a proper Southern bar-b-que, I realized one thing; I had no idea of how one makes Banana Pudding.
Watch it:
I, certainly, wouldn’t let something like that stop me. At least not when I can search the Internet. What I found was very strange; all of the banana pudding recipes had either packaged mixes in them or did not include bananas. It could be me, but I think something called Banana Pudding should have bananas in the recipe.
I found a delicious recipe on Joy of Baking from which I adapted my pudding. It wasn’t until I was about to write this post that I watched Stephanie’s video and saw that she did in fact stir bananas into her pudding. Great minds must think alike.
I stirred orange liqueur into my bananas before adding them to the cold vanilla pudding. The flavor pop is wonderful but I would recommend leaving it out if serving little ones.
Most recipes called for adding cookies to the pudding. I have never been a fan of this, mostly because I do not like the texture of the cookies when they are buried in the pudding. Initially, for about a nanosecond, they still have a bit of a crunch to them but all too quickly, they turn to mush. Not my style.
I broke up some shortbread cookies and sprinkled them over the top of the banana pudding and this provided a lovely presentation as well as a delicious taste.
Don’t feel like you have to make a bbq to serve Banana Pudding. All that it takes is a desire for a creamy cold sensational dessert.
| Banana Pudding | Print |
- ⅓ cup plus ¼ cup sugar, divided
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 3½ cups milk, 2% or whole, divided
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 large ripe bananas, not overly browned
- 3 tablespoons orange liqueur, optional
- 3 large ripe firm bananas
- Shortbread cookies, cut or smashed into small pieces
- Whisk together ⅓ cup sugar, cornstarch, salt, eggs and egg yolk in a large bowl. Whisk in ½ cup milk. Set aside.
- Pour 3 cups milk into a microwave safe measuring bowl. Stir in ¼ cup sugar. Microwave until very hot.
- Gradually, pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Transfer to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until thick and creamy.
- Pour the pudding through a fine mesh strainer into a clean large bowl. Whisk in the butter and vanilla. Immediately place a piece of wax paper, parchment paper or plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding and refrigerate until cold.
- Once the pudding is cold, smash 3 ripe but not overly brown bananas in a small bowl. Mix in the orange liqueur. Stir the bananas into the pudding. Set aside.
- Slice three large ripe firm bananas into ¼" slices. Place a layer of overlapping banana slices on the bottom of individual glass bowls. Scoop a layer of pudding over the bananas. Repeat the layers, ending with pudding on top. Sprinkle shortbread crumbs over the top.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
