Classic Banana Pudding
Tags: Dessert
Yield: 8
- 4 cups (960ml) whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 226 g granulated sugar (8 ounces; 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
- 60 g cornstarch (2 ounces; 6 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided; for table salt, use half as much by volume
- Yolks from 8 large eggs, straight from the fridge (5 ounces; 140g)
- 56g unsalted butter (about 2 ounces; 2 tablespoons)
- One 11- ounce box Nilla Wafers or other vanilla wafer cookies
- 5 medium bananas (about 27 1/2 ounces; 775 g), peeled and sliced in 1/2-inch rounds
- 2 cups ( 480 ml) heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon ( 8 g) confectioners sugar
- In a 4-quart stainless steel saucepan or pot, combine milk and scraped vanilla bean along with its seeds or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover to prevent evaporation, and let steep for 30 minutes.
- In a large bowl, set up an ice bath by partially filling it with a combination of cold water and ice. Set aside.
- In a medium heatproof mixing bowl set on top of a dampened towel (this serves as a stable base), stir together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in egg yolks until mixture is pale yellow, smooth, and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Uncover infused milk and remove vanilla bean. While whisking continuously, slowly pour milk into egg yolk mixture in a thin stream, until all of it has been added.
- Return mixture to the same pot. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until pastry cream begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Once it thickens, continue to whisk, pausing every few seconds to check for bubbles, about 1 minute. When it begins to bubble, set a timer and continue whisking for 1 minute. (This step is important to neutralize amylase, a starch-dissolving protein found in egg yolks.)
- Off-heat, whisk in butter until melted and thoroughly combined. Strain pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve set over a heatproof medium bowl. Immediately place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Transfer bowl to prepared ice bath to chill for 30 minutes, then refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.
- When ready to assemble banana pudding, whisk pastry cream until smooth. Using a flexible or offset spatula, cover bottom of trifle bowl with about 1 cup pastry cream. Top with a layer of Nilla Wafers. Arrange banana slices on top of cookies. Repeat until you have 4 layers; cover top layer with remaining pastry cream. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pastry cream and refrigerate until wafers have softened and the flavors have melded, at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. (You may have remaining Nilla Wafers; set aside to garnish, if desired.)
- When ready to serve, prepare the whipped cream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip heavy cream, confectioners sugar, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt until soft peaks form. (Alternatively, in a medium bowl, whisk cream by hand or using a hand mixer until soft peaks form.)
- Remove plastic wrap from pudding and top with whipped cream. Garnish with crushed Nilla Wafers, if desired. Serve immediately.
- Special Equipment
- 4-quart saucepan or pot, whisk, fine-mesh sieve, plastic wrap, flexible or offset spatula, stand mixer
- Make-Ahead and Storage
- The finished banana pudding can be made up to 1 day in advance. To make the banana pudding ahead of time, follow recipe through to step 8, then top dessert with whipped cream when you’re ready to serve. To store leftovers, loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
