The weekend we got back from Greece was a tad hectic. Since I was so diligent in emptying our perishable food supply as to have nothing go to waste while we were gone, I came home to an urgent need of grocery shopping. I bought a few things but really to keep with our budget, I wasn't able to stock up as much as I really wanted to. I had to rely on the cheaper side of produce, and the first thing I think of when looking for cheap produce is BANANAS! Not that I don't like bananas, I actually absolutely love them whipped into banana ice cream (if you haven't tried that, shame on you!). So for P's needed nightly dessert I decided to come up with something banana flavored, something homemade of course, and after searching just a few minutes I knew what I wanted to make- banana pudding! I don't think I have ever actually made banana pudding. It always intrigues me to come up with an "old-fashion" dessert and make everything in it out of scratch. I proceeded to make my own Milla wafers (I used an "m" in it because they are a "mock" Nilla Wafer- or even "mysti's" Nilla Wafers!) and the vanilla pudding was actually more simple than I thought it would be. Thankfully all of the ingredients in both the cookies and pudding were already in my kitchen. It was meant to be!
Banana Pudding
adapted from a recipe by TheWoodenSpoon
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Tbsp. Flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups milk (organic of course!)
2 eggs
1 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Milla Wafers* (see recipe below)
1 Banana (or more if you like it extra bananay)
Directions:
1. In a saucepan, mix flour & sugar then add eggs and mix well. Start your burner and slowly add milk; a little at a time stirring constantly. Continue stirring until it has thickened. After thick, add butter and vanilla.
2. While the pudding is thickening (make sure you keep an eye on it), line the bottom of a medium sized bowl with cookies on bottom then bananas on top, then line the sides of the bowl with the cookies/bananas to make it look pretty from the side!
3. When the pudding has thickened, poor into your prepared bowl and place in the fridge. It will set up within a few hours and should be ready to dive into!
4. If you save some Milla Wafers (if you make the whole batch below you will have plenty) left over, crumble some on top right before serving.
*Milla Wafers
recipe adapted from SeriousEats
Ingredients:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar (210g)
1 large egg white
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
1 1/3 cups AP flour (160g)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Directions:
1. With an electric mixer, cream butter, salt, and sugar until light.
2. Beat in egg white until well incorporated, scraping sides and bottom of mixing bowl to insure that all white has been incorporated.
3. Beat in extract and milk until well incorporated.
4. Whisk together flour and baking powder and add to butter mixture. Mix just to incorporate, scraping down sides and bottom of mixing bowl to insure that all flour has been incorporated.
5. Fit a piping bag with a large, plain pastry tip. Fill bag with about 1/3 of the batter. Holding the filled bag perpendicular to a parchment-lined baking sheet, pipe batter into 1 inch diameter-sized mounds, about 1 inch apart. (The cookies should cover 2 to 3 standard baking sheets. Batter will hold for a while after it is piped, so trays can be baked one or two at a time, as your oven allows.)
6. Bake at 350°F for about 13-15 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned, rotating trays every 5 minutes or so for even coloring. Cool completely before storing. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for at least a week.
Not that I am an expert of Banana Pudding but I would have to say this homemade version far exceeds any I have ever tried! P also enjoyed eating the left over Milla Wafers during the week for a sweet snack! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment