NOTE: OK, now you are thinking to yourself: “Booze? Banana Cream Pie?” What gives?” Simple my dear Mr. Watson, most Banana Cream Pies call for either real or imitation banana extract to give the custard part of the pie its banana flavor. And what is extract? Flavoring in a tiny bottle of alcohol!? Precisely. First of all, DO NOT EVER use “artificial” flavorings in any of your recipes, and don’t you let me hear of you doing so! Especially when you can purchase a fifth of totally delicious Crème de Banana Liqueur! In my mind, Bols brand is the zenith of Crème de Bananas. It is made with real sun-ripened bananas, oh yeah—and is 17% alcohol. Alright, so you are only going to need about a cup of this liqueur in this pie, but the leftover liqueur is going to make all of your tropical drinks head-spinningly delicious! If you like bananas, you are gonna be pouring Crème de Banana on your breakfast cereal tomorrow morning!
Now that you have had your banana flavoring lesson for the day, let’s get on to the subject at hand: the pie itself. This is bar-none, the best ass-kicking banana cream pie on the planet. Make this pie for your next dinner party and you will personally be thanking me!
Now that you have had your banana flavoring lesson for the day, let’s get on to the subject at hand: the pie itself. This is bar-none, the best ass-kicking banana cream pie on the planet. Make this pie for your next dinner party and you will personally be thanking me!
Ingredients:
Pie Crust:
You will need one fully baked piecrust for this pie. You can make your own (see my French Lemon Pie recipe for a good one), or use a fresh or frozen one from your grocery store. If you use a pre-made piecrust, follow the directions that come with it. Either way, before you bake it, make sure you prick the bottom and sides with a fork to prevent it from bubbling up away from the pan while it bakes. If it does bubble up, carefully reach into the oven and flatten it out with the backside of a fork or spoon. When it is golden brown, remove it from the oven and let it cool while you make the filling.
Filling:
–1/2 cup of Sugar
–1/4 cup of Cornstarch
–1/8 teaspoon of Salt
–1 cup Heavy Cream
–1 cup Whole Milk
–3 Egg Yolks, beaten with a fork or a whisk
–3 tablespoons softened Butter, cut into thirds
–2 Bananas, firm but ripe
–1/2 cup Crème de Banana Liqueur
Whipped Cream Topping:
–1 ½ cups Heavy Cream
–2 tablespoons Powdered Sugar
–2 tablespoons Crème de Banana Liqueur
Directions:
Bake the piecrust, and set aside to cool.
In a medium or large saucepan add the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Mix them together with a wire whisk to prevent the cornstarch from forming lumps.
Add the heavy cream, whole milk, and egg yolks. Whisk them together with the dry ingredients.
Over medium high heat, place the pan on the stove. As you do so, do not stop stirring the mixture with the wire whisk. Bring the custard ingredients in the pan to a boil. If you stop stirring you will seriously burn the bottom!
As you are consistently stirring, nothing will seem to happen for several minutes, and then all of a sudden the whole mixture will start bubbling and instantly thicken up.
The exact second the custard thickens up remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter and keep whisking until the butter is thoroughly melted and mixed into the custard.
Pour the mixture immediately into a heat-resistant mixing bowl. If by any chance there is any burned custard on the bottom of your pan, do not scrape it out, as nothing tastes worse than burned sugar!
Immediately take a piece of cellophane plastic wrap and press it down onto the surface of the custard that is now in a mixing bowl. This will prevent the custard from forming a highly undesirable skin on the top of it. You want to avoid this. Cool the custard until lukewarm. About 20 minutes in the refrigerator should do the trick.
While the custard cools measure the ½ cup of Crème de Banana and set aside.
Slice the bananas, and neatly and evenly coat the bottom and sides of the pre-baked pie shell.
By the time you are done arranging the fresh banana slices in the bottom of your pie shell, the custard should be sufficiently cooled off to work with.
Remove the cooled off custard from the refrigerator, and peel off the cellophane wrap from the top. Pour the ½ cup of Crème de Banana Liqueur into the custard in the mixing bowl, and immediately whisk it all together.
The reason you add the Crème de Banana at the very end, is to retain the liquor content and the delicate flavor. You don’t want to bruise the booze!
Immediately pour the banana-flavored custard into the pie shell on top of the sliced bananas in the pie shell. Using the back of a spoon, evenly smooth out the surface of the custard, coating the bananas, and making for an evenly filled piecrust.
Place the pie in the refrigerator for 30 to 45 minutes for the filling to set up before you prepare the whipped cream topping.
In a cold mixing bowl add 1-½ cups of heavy whipping cream. Using an electric hand mixer, or standard upright mixer, whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks. (You can certainly do it the old-fashion way and whip the cream by hand with a wire whisk if you like. Heavy Cream is not that hard to whip by hand, but it takes about 10 minutes. In the words of DEVO: “Whip it good!”)
When the heavy cream is whipped stiffly, and your are able to form peaks with it, add two tablespoons of powdered sugar and two teaspoons of Crème de Banana liqueur. Whip it all together for one minute until mixed.
Remove the pie from the refrigerator, and spread the banana-flavored whipped cream on the top of the pie. Using even strokes get creative and make it pretty!
Place the pie in the refrigerator, and cool it off for at least one hour.
Prepare to have the best Banana Cream Pie you will ever taste!
Pie Crust:
You will need one fully baked piecrust for this pie. You can make your own (see my French Lemon Pie recipe for a good one), or use a fresh or frozen one from your grocery store. If you use a pre-made piecrust, follow the directions that come with it. Either way, before you bake it, make sure you prick the bottom and sides with a fork to prevent it from bubbling up away from the pan while it bakes. If it does bubble up, carefully reach into the oven and flatten it out with the backside of a fork or spoon. When it is golden brown, remove it from the oven and let it cool while you make the filling.
Filling:
–1/2 cup of Sugar
–1/4 cup of Cornstarch
–1/8 teaspoon of Salt
–1 cup Heavy Cream
–1 cup Whole Milk
–3 Egg Yolks, beaten with a fork or a whisk
–3 tablespoons softened Butter, cut into thirds
–2 Bananas, firm but ripe
–1/2 cup Crème de Banana Liqueur
Whipped Cream Topping:
–1 ½ cups Heavy Cream
–2 tablespoons Powdered Sugar
–2 tablespoons Crème de Banana Liqueur
Directions:
Bake the piecrust, and set aside to cool.
In a medium or large saucepan add the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Mix them together with a wire whisk to prevent the cornstarch from forming lumps.
Add the heavy cream, whole milk, and egg yolks. Whisk them together with the dry ingredients.
Over medium high heat, place the pan on the stove. As you do so, do not stop stirring the mixture with the wire whisk. Bring the custard ingredients in the pan to a boil. If you stop stirring you will seriously burn the bottom!
As you are consistently stirring, nothing will seem to happen for several minutes, and then all of a sudden the whole mixture will start bubbling and instantly thicken up.
The exact second the custard thickens up remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter and keep whisking until the butter is thoroughly melted and mixed into the custard.
Pour the mixture immediately into a heat-resistant mixing bowl. If by any chance there is any burned custard on the bottom of your pan, do not scrape it out, as nothing tastes worse than burned sugar!
Immediately take a piece of cellophane plastic wrap and press it down onto the surface of the custard that is now in a mixing bowl. This will prevent the custard from forming a highly undesirable skin on the top of it. You want to avoid this. Cool the custard until lukewarm. About 20 minutes in the refrigerator should do the trick.
While the custard cools measure the ½ cup of Crème de Banana and set aside.
Slice the bananas, and neatly and evenly coat the bottom and sides of the pre-baked pie shell.
By the time you are done arranging the fresh banana slices in the bottom of your pie shell, the custard should be sufficiently cooled off to work with.
Remove the cooled off custard from the refrigerator, and peel off the cellophane wrap from the top. Pour the ½ cup of Crème de Banana Liqueur into the custard in the mixing bowl, and immediately whisk it all together.
The reason you add the Crème de Banana at the very end, is to retain the liquor content and the delicate flavor. You don’t want to bruise the booze!
Immediately pour the banana-flavored custard into the pie shell on top of the sliced bananas in the pie shell. Using the back of a spoon, evenly smooth out the surface of the custard, coating the bananas, and making for an evenly filled piecrust.
Place the pie in the refrigerator for 30 to 45 minutes for the filling to set up before you prepare the whipped cream topping.
In a cold mixing bowl add 1-½ cups of heavy whipping cream. Using an electric hand mixer, or standard upright mixer, whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks. (You can certainly do it the old-fashion way and whip the cream by hand with a wire whisk if you like. Heavy Cream is not that hard to whip by hand, but it takes about 10 minutes. In the words of DEVO: “Whip it good!”)
When the heavy cream is whipped stiffly, and your are able to form peaks with it, add two tablespoons of powdered sugar and two teaspoons of Crème de Banana liqueur. Whip it all together for one minute until mixed.
Remove the pie from the refrigerator, and spread the banana-flavored whipped cream on the top of the pie. Using even strokes get creative and make it pretty!
Place the pie in the refrigerator, and cool it off for at least one hour.
Prepare to have the best Banana Cream Pie you will ever taste!