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Nanabanana Cream Pie

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Nanabanana Cream Pie

A while ago, I opened one of those video ads that pop up on social media masquerading as an informative piece but turns out to be an infomercial selling something that’s purported to be a quick weight loss product. This video was on foods to avoid to reduce belly fat and the miracle product you could buy to help you in the process. As much as I’d like to look like I did when I was twenty, or even fifty, I have come to the resigned conclusion that belly fat is a normal part of life…along with looking in the mirror and seeing that gravity is no longer my friend. I remember the oh so righteous thoughts of my younger years, when I saw mature women in swimming pool changing rooms.

I will never…no never…let my body get like that.

I laugh at myself now when I think about it because, one morning you wake up… and ta dah…there you are wearing your mom’s body and wondering, “How the heck did that happen?”.

Let’s go back to that infomercial that I got sucked into for a moment. A food that “they” say to avoid is banana. As a child, I was very happy to avoid fruits or vegetables. The fruit that came in a yellow jacket was one my mom knew I would eat, and eat them often I did. Sliced on cereal both hot and cold, in a peanut butter sandwich, in banana bread, on ice cream, and out of hand. Bananas were cheap, filling, and delicious.

In my late 20s, during a post divorce trip to Maui (hey, I didn’t have a honeymoon so the least I could have was an it’s-over-moon), I stopped at fruit stands and found banana varieties I had never known about. There were big bananas, little bananas, apple bananas, red bananas, blue bananas, ice cream bananas, bananas with variegated peel, one that looked like praying hands, and another that didn’t look like a banana at all but more like a fig. Did you know that there are over 1000 banana varieties? The yellow one, that most all of us eat, is the Cavendish. 

Today, when looking for information to share with you about the banana, I came across a UK website completely dedicated to it. Here are a few of the fascinating things I learned: 

  • The scientific name for banana is ‘musa sapientum’ which translates as ‘fruit of the wise man’
  • The banana plant is not a tree, it is the world’s largest herb
  • The inside of a banana skin can be used to calm an itchy mosquito bite – many people find that rubbing the bite with the skin helps to reduce irritation
  • The inside of a banana skin can be used to polish shoes
  • Bananas could help you to feel happier, as they contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to promote relaxation and improve mood

That last reason is the perfect one to give me permission to eat them. So yesterday, I made a banana cream pie. Forgive me when I humbly say to you, it is one of the best banana cream pies I have ever made. 

Nanabanana Cream Pie

I ate a bite, and then another. Honestly, I believe I could have stood at the kitchen counter, spoon in hand, devouring much of what I had just created. I didn’t do that, but believe me when I tell you that the thought is still with me as I write this. Instead, with “everything in moderation” foremost in my mind, I headed out in my neighborhood and shared it with friends and neighbors until the plate was almost empty. There was a bit of cool creamy filling in the bottom of the pan when I finished, so I took the spoon and finished it off, stopping short of licking the plate clean. 😉 I have no idea if it was the tryptophan that made me feel so calm and relaxed for the rest of the day, but after a very good night’s sleep, I still feel centered and happy today. 

So, you may be thinking…

Enough of this. Just give me the darn recipe, Kate. 

And so I shall after a couple of last thoughts that are nice to share with this pie:

  • Don’t sweat the small stuff like bananas and belly fat.
  • Make your neighbors your friends. You never know when you may need to call on them for help…or they you. 
  • During this time in our world, I hope this pie may bring you a little comfort. 

NANABANANA CREAM PIE


9″ deep dish pie pan/plate
Serves 10

To Make the Pie
Ingredients

  • 3-5 ripe but not mushy bananas, sliced 1/2 inch thick
  • Pre-baked Cookie Crumb Crust (recipe follows)
  • Luscious Cream Filling (recipe follows)
  • Chantilly Cream (recipe follows)

Procedure

  1. Place a layer of banana slices inside the bottom of the cooled pie shell. 
  2. Spread the cream filling over the bananas evenly.
  3. Arrange banana slices over the top of the filling in whatever pattern you like. 
  4. Serve with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream (a/k/a Chantilly Cream).

Cookie Crumb Crust
Ingredients

  • 3 cups cookie crumbs (I used peanut butter cookies.)
  • 8 tablespoons salted butter, melted

Procedure

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. 
  2. Pour the crumbs into a bowl, add melted butter, and distribute well with clean hands or a fork.
  3. Spread and press the mixture evenly into your pie plate or pan.
  4. Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. 

Luscious Cream Filling
Ingredients

  • 8 egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 and 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 4 cups half and half 
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Procedure

  1. Separate the egg yolks and place them in a medium size bowl. Add the vanilla extract and whisk the yolks for a minute or so until they are smooth. It’s fine to do this with a fork.
  2. Place the sugar and cornstarch in a medium size saucepan and mix together with a whisk or fork. 
  3. With a whisk in hand, turn the heat to medium under the saucepan and pour the light half and half slowly and steadily into the dry ingredients while whisking constantly. Keep whisking until the mixture thickens and you see it begin to bubble. 
  4. Remove from the heat momentarily and pour about 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into the eggs in the bowl. Whisk together in the bowl until it looks blended in. This won’t take long. Pour the now hot egg mixture from the bowl, into the saucepan and return it to the stovetop. Turn the heat back to medium and whisk the mixture constantly until you bring it to a boil. It will be thick and coat the bake of a spoon. Remove from the heat. 
  5. Turn the hot mixture into a bowl and cover with parchment paper to prevent a skin from forming as it cools.  Cool completely in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
  6. Whip 1/2 cup heavy cream until it forms soft peaks and fold into the cooled mixture until it is evenly distributed. 

Chantilly Cream
Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Procedure

  1. Chill a bowl, beaters, and cream.
  2. Pour whipping cream in a medium size deep bowl. Add sugar and vanilla extract.
  3. Whip with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, 3 to 5 minutes.

Notes: You can easily halve or even quarter all the components (crust, filling, whipped topping) and make smaller sized pies.

It’s perfectly fine to substitute banana extract for the vanilla in the Luscious Cream.

Nanabanana Cream Pie

Comments

  1. Hi Kate,
    This looks delicious – i adore bananas, so will make this on the weekend.
    I got a little lost in step 3 of the luscious cream filling. Is the half and half cold or hot, and am I supposed to add all of it? Whenever i have made this kind of cream before, i have mixed sugar and starch to a cream with a little milk, then poured it into the boiling milk. Also! How do I keep the banana slices from going brown if the pie isn’t eaten right away? Thanks so much!

    Reply

    • Hi Andreas- Yes the half and half is cold. You do add all of it. If you have a favorite pastry cream that you make in the way that you described, it probably would be fine to use. This is how I make mine. You can brush the banana slices lightly with little lemon juice to help keep them from turning brown. You can easily halve or even quarter all the components (crust, filling, whipped topping) for the pie to make smaller sized pies. Enjoy!

      Reply

  2. Ooh, I like the peanut butter cookie crust angle! My grandma used to do this same pie with a butterscotch cream filling for my grandpa. It was his favorite. Thank you for sharing…a great summery pie!

    Reply

  3. Hi Kate,
    Must confess I am cookbook collector of shameful number so can size up quality quickly. Was hunting bundt book on Amazon and stumbled onto your book, the cover did it. So peeked inside , push come to shove, purchased 3! My son the chef tried to steal first arrival, one for me, and one for my brother who loves baking pie when he actually turns on his oven. Then had to get a cobalt blue pie pan for him for his collection. Can see this snowballing when granddaughter foodie visits said brother into another book for Christmas for her. Strawberry rhubarb is her drug of choice…
    Love the recipe today, envy the sanity of your cabin. Your neighbors will never move! I look forward to more missives from Oregon. Have to thank you for publishing this gorgeous book! Retired and this is going to be used often…belly fat be damned! Lol

    Reply

    • Well Joy, it looks like the software that I had been using for recipes for years is no longer supported and updated. 🙁 I found that out when I had the recipe all neatly typed in and when I wanted to make a slight change the program ate the Nanabanana recipe. I ended up typing it in directly into the blog entry. You can print the blog entry out and it will be there…or cut and paste just the recipe portion. It may take me some time to find and transfer everything over to a different recipe program. I’m not sure if the old program liked the pie after it ate it because it didn’t tell me. 😉 Kate

      Reply

  5. You never cease to amaze me. Bananas occupy my counter daily and never go bad. LOVE them. Needless to say, I will love this pie too. Thank you for sharing another delicious pie recipe. Your book gets a lot of use in my kitchen.
    XOXO
    Kim

    Reply

  6. Kindred spirits – I thought the same this week as I looked in the mirror. I’ve become my mother! I quickly goggled belly fat! Perhaps I shall make peace with it as I will never give up my beloved bananas! Love following you, Kate. Share the kindness along with a piece of pie always makes for a better neighbor. xx

    Reply

      • Kate I think that is a Great Idea!! Nanabanana is my “Grandmothers” nickname by my son….So It just fits!
        I too look at my body and think – and to think, at 24 yrs, I was so upset because I had one spot of cellulite on my thigh. I should be so lucky now. Truly we have earned who and what we are and should wear it well and wear it proudly. (No, don’t worry, I would never subject anyone to me in a bathing suit at this time). Thanks always for your insights and fab PIES Phyllis

        Reply

  7. Looks fabulous, and I too love the p-nut butter crust…writing out the recipe did I miss when to add the tablespoon vanilla to the cream filling?…
    Will be a great summer pie while we wait for strawberries and our wild maine blueberries!

    Reply

    • Amy- Thank you so much for your eagle eye! Yes, the vanilla should go in with the egg yolks and get whisked. I just updated the recipe. Let me know how you like it. My strawberries are just starting to come in. I’m hoping that I will have enough strawberries to add to my homegrown rhubarb at this weekend’s pie day camp. I grow Shuksans, a variety that does well in the Pacific NW. Do you have a regional fav that you grow? And blueberries? I used to live on a blueberry u-pick farm. Someday I’ll get to Maine and be like Sal in the story. 🙂 Again, many thanks for catching my omission. K

      Reply

  8. Whew, I’m not going blind. thnks.
    I love all strawberries fresh picked. And lucky for me I have a small fruit farm with 17 acres wild Maine blueberries(haven’t seen a bear in years.) We also have 175 fruit trees:cherries, plums, peaches, pears and lots of different apples for pies and cider! I “met” you in Rowan Jacobsen’s “Apples of Uncommon Character.” After assisting in a bakery last summer (25-40 pies/week), I discovered your Art of the Pie and blog last December. Thank you for many smiles and more pies to make!
    If you get to Maine, please visit.. And if you get to King Arthur in VT for classes I will try to get there.
    Cheers!

    Reply

  9. I love bananas, I love you, your recipes, and your humor Kate! Thank you for continuing to give! Hugs from Laurie in San Juan Capistrano, CA.

    Reply

  10. Thank you Kate!
    I made this today, for my husband to celebrate Father’s Day… one word… DELICIOUS!!
    He ate half of the pie in ONE setting!!

    Enjoyed by all of us!
    Debbie

    Reply

  11. Hmmmm, I’m thinking if you did this with vanilla wafers as the cookie crumb crust this would be like an elegant version of “banana pudding”– with either whipped creamer meringue on top.

    Reply

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