
LAURA LEE ALICE
COOKS
®
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Southern Banana Pudding 6 to 8 servings
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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 made from scratch and
cooked. It has simple ingredients and takes a minimum amount of
time.
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About the Ingredients
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• Milk-Only use whole milk. It does make a difference.
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• Eggs-I use large eggs for most of my cooking, even though they
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seem smaller than they used to be.
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• Vanilla wafers-Use a good quality; I've always used Nila vanilla
wafers. I am partial to the size and the flavor.
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• Bananas-Yellow with a few dark spots have the best flavor.
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• Vanilla-Banana pudding and vanilla go hand in hand. Our recipe for
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homemade vanilla here.
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One of my favorite things about banana pudding is the meringue on top. My
mom would always put it under the broiler until the "tips" of the meringue
would turn brown then imediately take it out. This always left a lot of white
and I never flet comfortable eating that. But by putting it in a preheated oven,
letting it start to turn brown, then quickly turning off the oven and leaving it
just until the entire top was brown made it a lot more appetizing to me.
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There is a big difference in the flavor of our vanilla pudding and the
boxed kind that you find in the store. It tastes so much "cleaner" and
fresher because it doesn't have all the preservatives in it.
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Southern Banana Pudding
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Ingredients
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• 2 ¼ cups milk
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• 4 eggs, separated (whites will be used for the meringue topping)
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• 6 Tbsp sugar
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• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
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• 1 tsp salt
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• 2 Tbsp butter
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• 1 tsp of a good vanilla
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• 2 Tbsp sugar
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• Vanilla wafers (about 48)
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• 4 ripe bananas, sliced (scant ½-inch)
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Preheat oven to 350°F. You will need a 1½ quart casserole dish.
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It can be round, square, or rectangular.
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Instructions
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1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan;
whisk until smooth*.
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2. Cook over medium heat, stirring often with a whisk until thickened.
Whisk in butter and vanilla; set aside.
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3. Place alternate layers of vanilla wafers, bananas and custard
in the casserole dish. (Make sure the custard gets into every nook
and crannie.)
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4. Beat egg whites (with the 2 tablespoons sugar)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.
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5. Place the banana pudding in oven; bake until it starts to
brown; turn off oven. Leave in the oven and watch closely until
the surface is light brown, like the picture shown.
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*I use my immersion blender for this. It makes it easy to get a smooth
and creamy pudding. You can find it here.
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KEYWORDS
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banana puddding, best banana pudding, simple banana pudding