Banana Cream Pie

For the all the years I have made banana cream pie, I apologize for not sharing this gem of a pie sooner. It’s loaded with banana pastry cream, bananas (of course), and topped with banana flavored whipped cream. Yep, the pie lady has gone totally bananas (truer than you may think).

If you are still reading I am guessing you love bananas, so let’s get to the creative part and get our pie on. I am not wasting any time today.

Step one is making the banana pastry cream. The pastry cream is a combination of heavy cream, eggs and a few drops of banana oil. If you cannot find banana oil, I have seen banana extract for sale.

FYI: 6 drops flavored oil (about 1/8 teaspoon) equals about 1/2 teaspoon extract, a 1:4 ratio. Flavored oils do NOT cook out or evaporate like extracts, which is why extracts are added at very end of cooking. That’s enough math for 6 months for me.

When the pastry cream is still warm from the stove top, press plastic right onto the surface to keep a skin from forming. Pop it straight into the fridge to cool for a couple of hours.

For the first layer, spread a small amount of the cooled pastry cream and placed the sliced bananas push gently into the filling. Leave space in between for the next layer to fill in and keep the bananas from oxidizing.

Layer two is the same; leaving space for the pastry cream to seal in around the bananas. It takes about 1-1/2 bananas per layer, 3 total for the entire pie. Can you taste it yet? If you are thinking you’d like chocolate banana cream, click the link and you’re there.

The pie is coming together masterfully! I covered the whole pie with whipped cream, just in case a banana tried to peak out from the pastry cream. Then pipe more whipped cream around the edges and ta-da! Look below!

You have now outdone yourself; a beautifully made-to-perfection banana cream pie! Bananas never tasted so darn good. Just remember, as soon as you slice into the creamy delight the oxidizing time-clock is ticking. So by all means save the last slice for yourself but cover those bananas!

Then again at 2 am when you’re eating by the light of the fridge, who cares what it looks like, right?

Print Recipe

Banana Cream Pie

Banana pastry cream, loads of bananas, and banana-flavored whipped topping, we’re going bananas today!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Author: Portlandia Pie Lady

Ingredients

Part 1:

• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 large whole eggs
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup sugar

Part 2:

• 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 6 drops banana oil (or 1/2 teaspoon banana extract)

Bananas & Topping:

• 3 large ripe bananas
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 drops banana oil (optional)
• 1 9-inch prepared vanilla wafer or graham crust

Instructions

• Part 1 ingredients: In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, eggs, cornstarch, and sugar, set aside.
• Part 2 ingredients: Mix cream, milk, sugar, banana oil and vanilla in a large saucepan over medium heat, bring to gentle boil, whisking to dissolve sugar, about 5-8 minutes. 
• Whisk in 1 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture to temper and then pour all back into the saucepan.  
• While whisking constantly, bring to simmer until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap pushed onto surface to prevent a skin and place in refrigerator for a few hours to cool (about 4 hours or overnight).
• Assembling Pie: Spread about  1/2 cup cooled custard over bottom of crust. Arrange banana slices over custard, pressing down slightly into custard. Repeat with custard and bananas, making custard the last layer. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. 
• Whip whipping cream with sugar and banana flavoring (if desired) until soft peaks form, spread over pie & pipe extra around sides.