Tuesdays with Dorie—Banana Cream Pie

To me, cream pies are synonymous with the pies you get at Denny's or Perkin's. The ones that sit for days on end in their smudged display cases waiting for senior's day at the diner. I honestly don't think I've ever had homemade banana cream pie before this week. Dorie's cinnamon-spiced pastry cream that enrobes the banana slices is creamy and velvety before hitting the crunch from the crust.

Instead of a pastry crust, I made a crumb crust using some leftover Coconut Butter Thins from last week by pulsing them in the food processor with some melted butter. I baked the crust at 350˚F for about 10 minutes. I also tried baking the crust in a parfait glass, and that worked too.

I had some sweet Ataulfo mangoes that I had picked up at Costco and decided to try making one mini pie crust with this "champagne" of fruit instead of bananas. It turned out to be a favorite. I also used up some frozen egg yolks I had stored in the freezer.

Recipe

Makes 8 servings

For the Custard:
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
½ cup (packed) light brown sugar, pressed through a sieve
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

3 ripe but firm bananas (or mangoes)

1 9-inch single crust made with Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough, fully baked and cooled (or make a crumb crust)

For the Topping:
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sour cream
You can find the recipe for Banana Cream Pie in the book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or here. To see how the rest of the TWD group fared with this week's recipe, click here and then click on each blogger! Thanks to Amy from Sing for Your Supper who chose the recipe for this week.

Tasting Notes
Although it's not hard to make, it does require you to make it in stages: crust, pastry cream and whipped cream. This is a cream pie worth knowing how to make at home.

Recipe for Next Week (April 14)
15 Minute Magic: Chocolate Amaretti Torte on pages 276 and 277 chosen by Holly of Phe/MOM/enon.

Other Links to Articles and Recipes for Banana Cream Pie
• Article in the New York Times: L.A.’s Top Banana
• Tartelette: Banana Cream Pie with caramel and chocolate