Desserts

My Southern Banana Pudding

6 to 8 servings

This is my basic recipe for banana pudding. Like most cooks in the South, we

each have our tried and true recipes. There are many others out there, but this

is the one that works for me. I like to eat the banana pudding within a few hours

of making it. This is the version that I grew up with because the pudding is

pudding is made from scratch and cooked. It has simple ingredients and takes

a minimum amount of time.

About the Ingredients

• Milk-Only use whole milk.

• Vanilla wafers-Use a good quality; I've always used Nila vanilla wafers. I am

partial to the size and the flavor.

• Bananas-Yellow with a few dark spots have the best flavor.

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups milk

• 4 eggs, separated (whites will be used for the meringue topping)

• ½ cup sugar

• 2 Tbsp cornstarch

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 Tbsp butter

• 1 tsp of a good vanilla

• Vanilla wafers (about 48)

• 4 ripe bananas, sliced (scant ½-inch)

Preheat oven to 350°F. You will need a 1½ quart casserole dish.

Instructions

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan;

whisk or beat with electric hand mixer until smooth*.

2. Cook over medium heat, stirring often with a whisk until thickened.

Whisk in butter and vanilla; set aside.

3. Place alternate layers of vanilla wafers, bananas and custard

in the casserole dish. (Make sure the custard gets into every nook

and crannie.)

4. Beat egg whites on high speed until foamy; gradually add sugar

and beat until meringue forms stiff peaks. Spread over pudding,

making sure to seal at sides of dish.

5. Place in oven; bake until it starts to brown, turn off oven. Leave in oven;

watch closely until surface is light brown, like the picture shown.

*I use my immersion blender for this. It makes it wasy to get a smooth and

creamy pudding. You can find it here.

KEYWORDS

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