Try Something New: Week Two

This week we tried this

Banana Cream Pie

from kingarthurflour.com.

They also have an interesting entry for Banana Cream Pie on their blog: Flourish.

I did not use their pie crust recipe.

I made a short bread crust with a recipe that I already had.

 Mr. In the Mid-west had asked for Banana Cream Pie for his birthday dessert yesterday. 

Since I did not have an existing good recipe for Banana Cream Pie I did some searching on the internet for a recipe that I thought would be worth a try.

I really like how well the custard set up. Once the pie was cut the filling was firm enough that it did not run all over the place.

I did not put whipped cream over the whole top of the pie, but, rather, put it on each piece as it was served.

The reason being, that we were not going to eat the whole pie in one sitting and I did not want the cream to, "deflate," and become a mess all over the pie. :-)

This pie met all of Mr. In the Mid-west's expectations; 

it was smooth, creamy, and not too sweet. He said this recipe was a keeper. :-)

Here is my short bread crust recipe:

Short Bread Pie Crust

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1/8 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. almond extract 

Cream butter and sugar. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and extract. Pat, evenly, into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350* F. 15-20 minutes.

This is the filling for the pie:

Banana Cream Pie Filling

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 large eggs

2 cups milk, whole milk preferred

6 tablespoons room-temperature or soft butter

1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, to taste

1/4 teaspoon almond extract, optional

 2 to 3 medium bananas, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick

 In a medium-sized heatproof bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt, and eggs, whisking until smooth. 
In a medium-sized saucepan, bring the milk just to a boil.
Gradually add the hot milk to the egg mixture, stirring all the while.
Return the egg/milk mixture to the saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and starts to boil; this will happen quite quickly, so don't leave the stove to do other chores.

Place the sliced bananas in the bottom of the pie crust. Spoon the hot pastry cream over the bananas, Smooth the surface, and cover it with plastic wrap — or parchment paper.  Refrigerate the pie until it's completely cold; the filling will thicken and set.
Serve the pie cold, with whipped cream if desired.