Banana Cream Pie What ????

It's Saturday morning in mid March in Iowa. Spring should be in the air, green blades of grass peeking out, birds chirping, breezy days, but not today. We awoke to a blanket of white flaky yuck. Now, you're going to say "Hey, you always talk about how much you love winter!" and yes, for the most part I DO! Not once March gets here though! I'm so ready for flowers, pots of fresh herbs on the deck, sunshiny mornings and the first farmers markets of the season. Instead, today I'm thinking of reasons to kick on the oven and stay in. Baking? Maybe!

I may have been obsessing over cake lately but there is always room for pie, right?  Of course there is! As a baker, I love the challenge of making a really good pie. Achieving a perfect flaky pastry, and creamy fillings that are smooth and free from lumps are not that hard to accomplish. Fruit pies are my favorite pies to bake, especially with fresh fruit. Getting that perfect tart sweet balance, and a slightly thickened juicy filling that doesn't make the crust soggy are the big challenges but simple additions like cornstarch make it happen perfectly. Cream pies are some of the easiest pies to make and offer you lots of chances to use time saving products, and that's what we are going to make today, creamy banana cream pie with a surprise topping- bruleed bananas.

You can classify this one under the No Recipe Cooking file because we will be using some store bought products to save time but you can certainly make your own graham cracker crust and pastry cream for the filling. Let's get started!

You will need a graham cracker pie crust, 3 ripe but firm bananas, 1 package COOKED vanilla or banana pudding mix, 1 3/4 cups milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, granulated sugar, coconut oil and whipped cream. The first thing we are going to do is combine the pudding mix with the milk in a medium saucepan and cook according to package directions. We are using less milk than the box calls for because we want the pie to set better for slicing. Once the pudding is cooked stir in the vanilla, transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap- make sure you place the wrap directly on the surface of the pudding so a skin doesn't form.  If you choose to make homemade pastry cream you want to do the same thing. Chill completely.

To prepare the pie, slice two of the bananas into the crust and spread them out evenly. Remove the plastic from the chilled pastry cream or pudding and spoon into crust, smoothing out to cover the bananas. Place in the fridge while you make the bruleed bananas.

To make the bruleed bananas, slice the remaining banana into ten even slices. They should be fairly thick so they cook too much and get soft. Sprinkle some granulated sugar onto a small plate and coat both sides of the banana slices with the sugar- press it gently to get lots of sugar to stick.  

Heat a small nonstick skillet over fairly high heat. Add a small amount of coconut oil to the skillet and add the banana slices. Cook quickly to brown and caramelize the sugar, turning once. Work fast so the bananas don't overcook. Set aside on small plate to cool. If you have a kitchen torch you can use that to melt the sugar too.

Decorate the top of the pie with dollops of whipped cream and a banana slice.

Wasn't that easy? Your friends and family will rave over this pie and the extra step of bruleeing the bananas makes it look like you invested a ton of time- when really, it was a snap!! Give it a try, it's one of my family's holiday favorites.