Banana Cream Pie

My daughter, Alexandra, and I were out by the  pool the other day and some neighbors and friends were out there with us. The guys decided to plan a barbecue for the following monday and invited us to come. I never like to go to something like that empty handed and one of the guys had been talking about this banana pie that he liked from a grocery store which made me think, I can do better than that, so I volunteered to make my own banana cream pie.

 Unfortunately, the barbecue was cancelled unbeknownst to me. Thank goodness Alexandra loves banana pudding and this was just a step above that I believe, although Samantha, my oldest, might beg to differ since her favorite part of banana pudding was the soggy cookies which this pie lacked. When she was a child, I would open the refrigerator to find that she had tunneled through the banana pudding eating out the cookies in the middle avoiding all the bananas. 

Alexandra and I managed to eat the whole pie on our own though, it was delicious!

Pie Crust

You can use anyone you like but this is mine...

2 C flour

1/2 t salt

2/3 C butter

2 t sugar

1 egg yolk

3-4 T cold water

Cut in the butter  and salt by rubbing it with your fingers until it becomes a coarse crumb. make a well in the center and add sugar egg yolk and 3 T water. Stir quickly and press together into ball with fingers. Add more water if needed. Knead lightly into ball. Chill 30 min.

Roll out half the dough because this is enough for a top and bottom of a pie. Line a pie pan and blind bake the crust then let cool.

Custard Pie Filling

4 T cornstarch

4 T water

2 t vanilla

dissolve the cornstarch in the liquid

2 1/2 C whipping cream

1/2 C sugar 

4 oz. butter unsalted

In a sauce pan bring the whipping cream, sugar and butter to boil over med. heat. Add the cornstarch mixture and bring back to boil then remove and cool slightly.

Topping

1 pint whipping cream whipped with 1/4 C powdered sugar

Assembly

3 large bananas sliced

Take your pie crust and line it with the sliced bananas. While the custard is still warm pour it over the bananas because it will make the custard take on the flavor of the bananas. Cover with waxed paper or plastic wrap and cool and then refrigerate. Add the whipped topping when cold.