Banana Cream Pie -- homemade banana custard and fresh slices of banana atop a cinnamon graham cracker crust all topped with plenty of homemade whipped cream!
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I present you with my foodie offering for Pi Day coming up this Saturday, March 14th! You know, like 3.14........... Obviously, food bloggers make pie recipes to celebrate Pi Day!! So whitty.... lol.
My take on Banana Cream Pie
This is not exactly a classic approach to banana pie. Most recipes I came across in my research for developing this recipe used a traditional flour pasty crust and vanilla custard along with fresh banana. I decided to go with a graham cracker crust for a few reasons:
- Honestly, I just hate making flour pie crusts... Yes, I am a self-proclaimed baker who can't make a real pie crust. 🤷🏻♀️ Maybe one day I'll figure it out!
- I LOVE a good buttery delicious graham crumb crust with just a hint of cinnamon. Yes, yes, yes!!
- Graham cracker crusts are really quick and easy to make!
A banana cream pie should have plenty of banana flavour, in my opinion. I decided to add banana extract to my custard in addition to the vanilla extract to really amp up the flavour for my pie. No use having a banana pie that doesn't taste like banana, I'd say!
Look at that deliciousness!! This recipe was honestly SO hard to photograph! Creamy, custard pie is not that easy to make look presentable. My first attempt at shooting this pie was a total fail. Droopy, but delicious pie that just looked like a mess. For the second time, I partially froze the pie for about 2 hours to allow it to firm up a bit to allow clean serving for the photos. I would recommend this if you want the pie to look beautiful in addition to tasting fantastic!
Then, my brother and his fiancé helped me with some artificial light from their iPhones because, by the time I had the pie looking just right, my natural light disappeared! 😂 So, it was definitely a bit of an ordeal to get these photos! But, so worth it!
If you make this recipe, I invite you to please share an honest review in the comments below, or share on social media using my hashtag: #kneadsomesweets!
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Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients
For the Filling
- ¾ cup granulated white sugar
- 7 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups whole milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons banana extract
- 2 medium firm (but ripe) bananas
For the Crust:
- 1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ⅓ cup salted butter, melted
For the Whipped Cream:
- 2 cups cold whipping cream
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
To make the Custard:
- Whisk together the egg yolks in a small bowl. Set aside. In a medium-sized saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add the milk and whisk until fully incorporated. Place on the stove over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and just starts to boil. Remove from the heat.
- Temper the egg yolks by slowly adding about 1 cup of the hot thickened milk/cornstarch mixture to the bowl while whisking briskly. Add the tempered egg mixture back into the pot and turn the heat on to medium again and whisk constantly until the mixture begins to boil and registers at least 165℉(74℃) on a candy or meat thermometer(to ensure the egg yolk is fully cooked).
- Pour the custard immediately into a heat-safe mixing bowl and add the vanilla and banana extracts. Whisk until combined. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the custard, pressing the wrap right against the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool at room temperature until just barely warm. Don't leave out for over 2 hours, place in the fridge (on a hot mat) after about ½ hour at room temp if you want to speed it up. While the custard is cooling, make the crust for the pie.
To make the Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Stir together the graham crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Stir in the melted butter to combine. Pour the crust mixture into a 9-inch pie pan and press firmly onto the bottom and sides of the pan to form a crust. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack until ready to assemble the pie.
To assemble the Pie:
- Once both the custard filling and pie crust are cooled to room temperature it is time to assemble the pie. Slice 2 (or 3 small) bananas into ¼-inch slices and arrange in one layer on top of the crust. Cover the banana slices with the custard, smoothing the top with a spatula. Cover the pie, placing the plastic wrap directly against the top of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight is best.
To make the Whipped Cream:
- Mix together the whipping cream and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl, then whip using a handheld electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Top the finished, chilled pie with the whipped cream just before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Love and Cookies,
Naomi
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I was a tiny bit nervous about making this since pies have never been my forte, but it was actually really straightforward and easy to make! Just note, if you're as unexperienced with making custard as I was, that you don't want to leave it in the fridge too long to cool, because it then becomes very difficult to smooth once you add it to the crust. 😂 But that really didn't matter because I smothered whipping cream all over top of that so nobody was the wiser. 😜 The directions were very easy to follow, and it made the best banana cream pie I've had in a long time!
Glad to hear you loved this pie recipe, Taryn! That is a great tip, thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the 5-star review!!
Naomi