Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Tuesdays with Dorie—Banana Cream Pie

Banana Cream Pie in a Parfait GlassTo me, cream pies are synonymous with the pies you get at Denny's or Perkin's. The ones that sit for days on end in their smudged display cases waiting for senior's day at the diner. I honestly don't think I've ever had homemade banana cream pie before this week. Dorie's cinnamon-spiced pastry cream that enrobes the banana slices is creamy and velvety before hitting the crunch from the crust.

Instead of a pastry crust, I made a crumb crust using some leftover Coconut Butter Thins from last week by pulsing them in the food processor with some melted butter. I baked the crust at 350˚F for about 10 minutes. I also tried baking the crust in a parfait glass, and that worked too.

I had some sweet Ataulfo mangoes that I had picked up at Costco and decided to try making one mini pie crust with this "champagne" of fruit instead of bananas. It turned out to be a favorite. I also used up some frozen egg yolks I had stored in the freezer.

Recipe

Makes 8 servings

For the Custard:
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
½ cup (packed) light brown sugar, pressed through a sieve
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

3 ripe but firm bananas (or mangoes)

1 9-inch single crust made with Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough, fully baked and cooled
(or make a crumb crust)

For the Topping:
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sour cream

You can find the recipe for Banana Cream Pie in the book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or here. To see how the rest of the TWD group fared with this week's recipe, click here and then click on each blogger! Thanks to Amy from Sing for Your Supper who chose the recipe for this week.

Banana and Mango Cream PieTasting Notes
Although it's not hard to make, it does require you to make it in stages: crust, pastry cream and whipped cream. This is a cream pie worth knowing how to make at home.

Recipe for Next Week (April 14)
15 Minute Magic: Chocolate Amaretti Torte on pages 276 and 277 chosen by Holly of Phe/MOM/enon.

Other Links to Articles and Recipes for Banana Cream Pie
• Article in the New York Times: L.A.’s Top Banana
• Alice Q. Foodie: Banana Cream Pie
• Gluten-free Girl: Banana Cream Pie
• Joy the Baker: Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie
• Tartelette: Banana Cream Pie with caramel and chocolate

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  • 40 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    Whoa, this is an inspired dessert if I ever saw one. I love that you used our coconut butter thins in the base. Bananas and coconut -- yum!

    Teanna said...

    WOW!!!!!!!!!!! The mango version is right up my alley! I am actually drinking a mango smoothie right now! The only fruit I love more than bananas are mangoes! You really did a stunning job with this one... I love the use of the leftover coconut butter thins! Tropical all around!

    Unknown said...

    Wow, way to use leftovers! Your desserts look so impressive and your photos are gorgeous as always :)

    Maria said...

    I love what you did here. I am sure the mangoes were fabulous! What a beautiful dessert!

    Amy said...

    Oh wow! This looks amazing!! What great substitutions! Thanks for baking with me this week!!

    -Amy
    Www.singforyoursupperblog.com

    RecipeGirl said...

    Mango pie? Never heard of such a thing- what a brilliant idea! Nice use of your leftover coconut butter thins too!

    Michelle said...

    Having tasted the pie filling, mango is perfect. I just happen to have some mangos sitting, ripe on my counter.

    Anonymous said...

    Very cool! They look wonderful.

    Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

    What fun variations! :) Beautiful presentations!

    La Bella Cooks said...

    So yummy! I love how you present it in the little cups as well.

    Jules Someone said...

    Excellent displays. Those all look so delicious. Nice job using up your leftovers.

    Carol Peterman/TableFare said...

    Integrating one week's recipe into the next - very clever. I love that the mango worked in this pie, I would never have thought of that.

    farah said...

    Wow, these look great! I really want to try that mango version!!!

    chocolatechic said...

    gasp!

    You actually had leftover cookies???


    What a brilliant idea for the crust....I just can't believe you had leftover cookies.

    Jennifer said...

    Wow, your variations look amazing. I love mangoes, too. And what a great way to use up the coconut butter thins. I enjoyed those, but my family didn't, so I ended up eating most of them myself.

    Soy*Baby said...

    Your pictures are fantastic and I love the little mini pie.

    Cathy said...

    A crust out of coconut butter thins?!?! And mangoes You are brilliant! The tropical vibe of your pie is irresistible.

    Sara said...

    This looks absolutely beautiful! I love that you used mangos, I never think to eat them any way other than sliced.

    Flourchild said...

    Nice looking mango dessert. Im glad you found a way to use some leftovers too. Your dessert looks amazing!

    natalia said...

    I'd love the mango one !! How lovely !

    Jodie said...

    Looks great! I love using the cookies as the crust!

    Treehouse Chef said...

    Beautiful photos! What a great recipe. Thanks for sharing.

    Kayte said...

    These look really really good...just lovely. Mango would be such a big hit around here with this, I must remember that! Oh, and I would need to make cookies specifically for this as around here...there are rarely leftover cookies from week to week...rarely? I should say NEVER! Wonderful job sharing new tricks this week. Thanks.

    Sara @ Our Best Bites said...

    oooh, I'm loving that mango version! We're doing a mango giveaway on my blog right now so I totally have mango on the brain and that caught my eye right away on Foodgawker- it looks amazing!

    Linda said...

    Good lord --- using the coconut butter thins as the base sounds totally decadent!

    Hmmmm...now i'm intruiqued about using mango as the fruit.

    Great job Shari!

    Lynda said...

    This looks so yummy! I want to try making it with mangoes. Nothing better than a mango dessert. I love your photos.

    vibi said...

    What a sad, sad description of cream pies. Hummm... Do you have Denny's around your place?

    I wouldn't know about how blah those pies are under the great glass bells, to me... they always looked so inviting, in the movies.

    But in the end, I'm glad you made it your own! for it looks very pretty that way! A lot more modern that's for sure!

    EB said...

    I love your inspired touch... but I think I really would like the banana

    Passionate Baker said...

    as always, putting your own amazing and totally cool twists on each weeks recipe!
    always looking awesome!
    great job!
    <3

    Elyse said...

    I love what you did for the crust! How divine! Your dessert looks completely fabulous.

    Jan said...

    That banana cream pie looks yummy!
    Fantastic photos as always!

    Malak said...

    Stunning photography. I love the reflection in the top photo! Gorgeous.

    Unknown said...

    Your posts are always like magic!

    Eliana said...

    Your interpretation of this recipe is fabulous. I'd rather mangos over bananas anyday!

    test it comm said...

    Great looking banana cream pie!

    TeaLady said...

    Those look fantastic. Way to continue the TWD from one week to the next. Love it!!!

    Annette said...

    I love the presentation in the glass! And a crust made from the coconut butter thins?! Be still my heart.

    Engineer Baker said...

    Oh, I love the mango idea - I just don't use mangoes enough :)

    gaming speicher said...

    The only fruit I love more than strawberry are mangoes! Banana cream pie is yummy! Thank you so much for sharing!

    Unknown said...

    I came across this on tastespotting...LOVING the idea of using mangoes instead. Totally doing it!