Banana Cream Shanny Face Pie

My what a holiday season. 9 days off from work, 8 inches of snow, 6 cases of beer, 3 cases of wine, 2 relatives in town from over seas and one banana cream Shanny face pie. Whew. No wonder my blog suffered.

I'm going to do my best to make up for my slacking by updating the blog with some of the fantastic things we ate last month. I'm going to start with a dessert that inspired what was one of my favorite moments of holidays and changed the way I will forever look at banana cream pie.

It all started when my sister insisted that I make a banana cream pie to go along with our traditional mince meat pie for Christmas Eve Dessert. I was thinking more in the line of a pecan pie, but she insisted because it is her favorite.

Being the nice brother that I am, I made what she wanted. After a fantastic Paella dinner, I brought out the two beautiful pies and began serving everyone. When it came time to serve my sister, I began to cut a healthy slice. She stopped me and said she only wanted the smallest of slices. Needless to say I was stunned and hurt by this drastic change in events.

My aunt vaulted to my defense, telling me, you know what I would do with that pie if someone said that to me after making such a fuss . On this cue, I pick up the pie and mocked like I was going to shove it into my sister's face. My aunt jumped up and said, "No, WAIT! Let me get my camera first," and dashed out of the room. Seconds later, camera in hand and ready to fire. "Okay. Go ahead," she said.

In hindsight, it wasn't a very nice thing to do, and ultimately it led to the pie being unceremoniously tossed into the trash, but clearly I had no choice. My aunt had thrust me into a precarious corner. I had the pie in my hand, inches away from my sister's face, and a camera poised to capture the event for posterity. I could either put it back on the table and be seen as the nice, albeit cowardly brother, or I could follow through with my promise be recognized as a man of my word. In the end, I buckled under pressure. While I didn't smash the pie into her face, I did gently ease it nose deep onto her shocked face. It wasn't a nice thing to do, but I do feel better about myself having done it.


Inspiration: My ("Everything is about ME") sister
Time: 20 minutes or so to make, 1 hour to chill custard, and overnight for pie to set up
Difficulty: Easy, once you get the hang of making custard
Special Equipment: Medium sized, heavy sauce pan

Ingredients:

Prepared Pie Crust: Either a graham cracker crust or a traditional butter crust
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 large egg yolks
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 pounds total), peeled, cut crosswise in half

1. Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt in heavy medium sauce pan to blend. Gradually whisk in whipping cream and whole milk, then egg yolks. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add vanilla bean.
2. Whisk over medium-high heat until custard thickens and boils, about 6 minutes.
3. Remove from heat. Whisk in unsalted butter and vanilla extract. Discard vanilla bean.
4. Transfer custard to large bowl; cool completely, whisking occasionally, about 1 hour.
5. Stir custard to loosen, if necessary. Spread 1 cup custard over bottom of prepared crust. Top with half of sliced bananas, then 1 cup custard, covering bananas completely. Repeat layering with remaining bananas and remaining custard. Chill banana cream pie until filling is set and crust softens slightly, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. Cut pie into wedges and serve.