Banana Pudding
By Matthew FairmanPublished on July 2, 2024
Time
1 hour, plus 9¼ hours cooling and chilling
Yield
Serves 12
Ingredients
Pudding
7 bananas (3 slightly underripe, 4 ripe) (2⅔ pounds)1½ cups (10½ ounces) sugar, divided8 large egg yolks 6 tablespoons (1½ ounces) cornstarch 6 cups half-and-half ½ teaspoon table salt 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled1 tablespoon vanilla extract 3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided80 vanilla wafers, dividedWhipped Topping
1 cup heavy cream, chilled1 tablespoon sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extractBefore You Begin
If you can use only one ripeness of banana, go for the underripe, which are still delicious layered in the pudding. If your food processor bowl holds less than 11 cups, puree half the pudding with the roasted bananas and lemon juice in step 3, transfer it to a large bowl, and then whisk in the rest of the pudding. You can also use an immersion blender to puree the pudding mixture. One 11-ounce box of store-bought vanilla wafers (such as Nabisco brand Nilla Wafers) should contain 80 wafers; if you prefer, you can make your own Vanilla Wafers.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Place underripe bananas on baking sheet and bake until skins are completely black, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk ½ cup sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch in medium bowl until smooth (sugar need not be fully dissolved). Bring half-and-half, salt, and remaining 1 cup sugar to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Off heat, whisk ½ cup simmering half-and-half mixture into egg yolk mixture. Slowly whisk yolk mixture into saucepan. Cook, whisking constantly, until pudding is bubbling and thickened and registers 180 degrees in several places, about 3 minutes. Off heat, stir in butter and vanilla.
- Transfer pudding to food processor. Peel roasted bananas and add to processor with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Process until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to large bowl and place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding. Set aside to cool slightly, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate until just warm, about 45 minutes.
- Peel ripe bananas, slice ¼ inch thick, and toss in bowl with remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Spoon one-third of pudding (about 3 cups) into 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Arrange 35 wafers and half of banana slices (about 1½ cups) in single layer on top of pudding. Repeat layering with 3 more cups pudding, 35 more wafers, remaining banana slices, and remaining 3 cups pudding. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding and refrigerate until wafers have softened, at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.
- Using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip cream, sugar, and vanilla on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Top banana pudding with whipped cream. Coarsely crumble remaining 10 wafers and sprinkle evenly over whipped cream. Serve.
for the pudding
for the whipped topping
Time
1 hour, plus 9¼ hours cooling and chillingYield
Serves 12Ingredients
Pudding
Whipped Topping
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Pudding
Whipped Topping
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Pudding
Whipped Topping
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Classic Southern banana pudding is typically a parfait of vanilla pudding, vanilla wafers, and sliced bananas assembled in a casserole and topped with whipped cream. For our version, we wanted the pudding itself to be infused with banana flavor as well, making it truly worthy of its name. We roasted unpeeled underripe bananas until their skins turned black, concentrating their flavor and intensifying their aroma, and then pureed them into a from-scratch vanilla pudding. Using underripe bananas kept the roasted fruit from oozing excessive liquid into the pudding. Checking that the temperature of our simmering pudding mixture reached 180 degrees in several spots ensured that it fully thickened and set up when chilled. Evenly layering the pudding, cookies, and ripe banana slices before chilling the assembled dessert for at least 8 hours resulted in perfectly tender, cake-like cookies and pieces of banana in every bite. Finally, topping the dessert with lightly sweetened whipped cream and freshly crumbled cookies created a lovely textural contrast.
Before You Begin
If you can use only one ripeness of banana, go for the underripe, which are still delicious layered in the pudding. If your food processor bowl holds less than 11 cups, puree half the pudding with the roasted bananas and lemon juice in step 3, transfer it to a large bowl, and then whisk in the rest of the pudding. You can also use an immersion blender to puree the pudding mixture. One 11-ounce box of store-bought vanilla wafers (such as Nabisco brand Nilla Wafers) should contain 80 wafers; if you prefer, you can make your own Vanilla Wafers.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Place underripe bananas on baking sheet and bake until skins are completely black, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk ½ cup sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch in medium bowl until smooth (sugar need not be fully dissolved). Bring half-and-half, salt, and remaining 1 cup sugar to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Off heat, whisk ½ cup simmering half-and-half mixture into egg yolk mixture. Slowly whisk yolk mixture into saucepan. Cook, whisking constantly, until pudding is bubbling and thickened and registers 180 degrees in several places, about 3 minutes. Off heat, stir in butter and vanilla.
- Transfer pudding to food processor. Peel roasted bananas and add to processor with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Process until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to large bowl and place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding. Set aside to cool slightly, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate until just warm, about 45 minutes.
- Peel ripe bananas, slice ¼ inch thick, and toss in bowl with remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Spoon one-third of pudding (about 3 cups) into 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Arrange 35 wafers and half of banana slices (about 1½ cups) in single layer on top of pudding. Repeat layering with 3 more cups pudding, 35 more wafers, remaining banana slices, and remaining 3 cups pudding. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding and refrigerate until wafers have softened, at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.
- Using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip cream, sugar, and vanilla on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Top banana pudding with whipped cream. Coarsely crumble remaining 10 wafers and sprinkle evenly over whipped cream. Serve.
for the pudding
for the whipped topping
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