Banana Pudding

Here's another recipe you might want to try. 
 
I use the Jello brand cooked vanilla pie and pudding mix.  But instead of all whole milk, I substitute half the milk requirement with evaporated milk and I add one cap of banana flavoring.
 
I make the pudding and when it is finished, I add the sliced bananas to the hot pudding,  Then I let the pudding cool down a few minutes. 
 
Meanwhile, I dip the bottom layer of vanilla wafers in almond extract (natural flavored) for a surprise taste when you dig down deep into the bowl.  I line the sides with wafers and then pour the pudding and bananas into the bowl.  I top with more wafers and place in the ref for at least 4 hours.
 
Just before I am ready to serve it, I make whipped cream from scratch. 

Baah Ben, I really like this method and will have to give it a try. I really like the almond extract flavored waffers. Thanks for the info.

Ben ,I do the same thing but I mix in a box of instant bananna puddin mix and instant vanilla.That is when I dont make it from scratch.

JB - Do you make legitimate whipped cream or do you use whipped topping?  Actually the whipped stuff is not a bad product, but I like the real thing.

Best banana pudding I have ever had (hands down) was at Dreamland in Birmingham.  I think they made the pudding from scratch; that's the right way to do it.

Another winner, Ben. My North Carolina cousin makes a mean banana pudding, but your recipe just might give her a run for the money!

This is one of the greatest desserts on the planet-----and to all your standard recipes------as you are cooking the pudding throw in a shot of real good Kentucky Bourbon and marvel at the wonders it will bestow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Russ

My mom makes one of the best I have ever had by cooking the JELLO Cook and Serve vanilla pudding.  But first she fills a fairly deep casserole bowl with a layer of Nilla Wafers, then sliced bananas (a lot), then crushes the Nilla Wafers real good and then another layer of bananas and so on until the dish is filled.  Then she pours the hot pudding all on top and pokes holes into the cookies and bananas with a knife so that the pudding can seep through to the bottom.  Then she tops is off with homemade meriunge and then browns it in the oven...it is good hot, cold, or anywhere in between. 
Crushing up the Nilla Wafers really does it for me, it almost turns into a cake-pudding...give it a try.

QMan!! I'm there next time I make this.  Great, great idea. 

THANK YOU. 

Hey, tell your Mom about trying the almond extract thing on that bottom layer.  She might like it.

Russ - A shot of burbon huh....Ok, I will experiment.....I use to dip my wafers in a French rasberry liqueor (I cannot spell it) but after I finished the bottle and went to buy another bottle ($35) I said forget it.  That's when I came up with this latest idea of using the almond extract. 

TSK TSK TSK, my wife would be so upset if she read these posts.  

Wendy does the old fashion type pudding where she makes the CUSTARD from scratch. Now she does have her mom's recipe for what we call "short-cut" banana pudding but she and I really prefer the old fashioned way. BTW. if it's made the old fashioned way with Nilla Wafers, we call it Nana Pudding.


I will admit to eating other types of banana pudding and they have been very good for the most part. 

I hope no one gets upset with me, just sharing my 2 cents is all.




Dennis in Cary

I was waiting for you to comment, knowing your wife makes her own banana pudding...maybe she will share the recipe???

Ben,When time allows I like to make my merange [sp] because you know there ain't nuthin like warm Nana Puddin from the oven!

annpeeples


I was waiting for you to comment, knowing your wife makes her own banana pudding...maybe she will share the recipe???

ann, we have to quit meeting this way...LOL. I'll ask Wendy for the recipe and get it to you in the next couple of days.



Dennis in Cary 

I too like the old fashioned type and here is an easy way to make it even though it has to be cooked:

OLD FASHIONED BANANA PUDDING

1 cup sugar
2 tbsp (heaping) flour
3 eggs yolks (save the whites)
2 cups milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 box vanilla wafers
3-5 bananas

Layer bananas then wafers in over proof bowl. In a saucepan add sugar and egg yolks; mix well adding milk when needed. Add flour to the egg mixture then the rest of the milk and mix well.  Add vanilla and stir constantly on medium heat until thick and smooth. Pour over wafers and bananas.

Make topping from egg whites. Beat egg whites until stiff while slowly adding 3 tablespoons sugar. Beat again and add 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat again. Add to top of bowl and lightly brown in over.

This is the way my grandmother and mom made it and now I do. It really doesn't take that much time and believe me it is worth it.

JB - Now you have plenty of time to make the meringue from scratch.
Celts

Yeah ,Now that I am out of work for like the fifth time in as many months.And in two more hours I'll be sitting in a Dentist chair getting a root canal,I just love Mondays.

Hey - Sorry about your employment situation.  Just think how much worse off you'd have been if you bet on the Celtics! 
 
Make sure that endodontist doesn't go too far!  I had this moron in Ft. Lee, NJ, a supposed expert, do one.  They are supposed to drill, stop, take x-rays, and drill again.  They are supposed to do this time and again during the process. 

Why?  Because otherwise, they can actually go in so deep they come out the other end! If they do that, the tooth never heals.  Then they have to pull it and you need a bridge which means they have to file down a tooth on either side so you are really losing 3 teeth!  When they pulled the tooth, I brought it to the dentist and literally threw it in his face..True story.

Ok, so I've made your Monday for you.  When you get home, make some banana pudding (need to get back on track here) ..Your mouth will be so sore that this is all you will want to eat.  

Thanks Ben for cheering Me Up ,Now I'm gonna get Drunk.
One hour till drill time.

Baah Ben


QMan!! I'm there next time I make this.  Great, great idea. 

THANK YOU. 

Hey, tell your Mom about trying the almond extract thing on that bottom layer.  She might like it.

Russ - A shot of burbon huh....Ok, I will experiment.....I use to dip my wafers in a French rasberry liqueor (I cannot spell it) but after I finished the bottle and went to buy another bottle ($35) I said forget it.  That's when I came up with this latest idea of using the almond extract. 

 Framboise---------and yes it is mucho costly! Bourbon be better!
 
Russ

Yup..that's it.  Thanks Russ - We're lucky to have wealthy and worldly travelers who know all about the finer things in life.    Framboise..That's it. 

I'll try the burbon!

JB  Anytime....

I'm Back and I figured what pain is for.....It makes you realized that you're still alive.

jellybear


Yeah ,Now that I am out of work for like the fifth time in as many months.And in two more hours I'll be sitting in a Dentist chair getting a root canal,I just love Mondays.

Reading your comments made be think of the Boomtown Rats song I Don't Like Mondays.



Dennis in Cary 

JB - Yeah..there gonna remind you a few more times (visits) before it's all over.. Nothing like a little root canal work to get you going.

Hope you're feeling better.  Have a little banana pudding and you'll be ok.  My baby (Redford) had not one but two operative procedures today in his mouth, too!!  I wonder whose bill is going to be bigger?  I'm betting mine!

He will only be allowed to have soft food so I'm making him banana pudding, too.

DLnWPBrown


TSK TSK TSK, my wife would be so upset if she read these posts.  

Wendy does the old fashion type pudding where she makes the CUSTARD from scratch.

 
 
Interesting timing as bon vivant Arthur Schwartz (whom I've often touted on this site and whose web site is a great source for a spectrum of wonderful recipes) included a recipe for this dish in his e-mail newsletter just this week. It's plucked from Jean Anderson's cookbook...
 

 
 
...and which won a James Beard Foundation award last year (in the Americana category). Specifically, and as Dennis champions above, Anderson's recipe is based on a custard and looks to be a derivation of SassyGritsAL's recipe above (although Schwartz serves it in a glass trifle bowl and hails it as "Zuppa di Banana" thereby "making the connection between it and the Southern Italian dessert, Zuppa Inglese, which is based on the English trifle").
 
Here is the recipe :
 
 
JEAN ANDERSON’S BANANA PUDDING
Serves at least 10
 
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 quart (whole) milk
1 cup half and half
3 large eggs, lightly beaten together
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
About 75 vanilla wafers (about 3/4 of a 12-ounce box)
6 medium firm-ripe bananas (about 2 1/4 pounds)
 
Plus:
 
1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks with
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
 
Combine the sugar, flour and salt in a large, heavy saucepan.
 
Whisk in the milk and half and half, then set over moderate heat, and cook, stirring constantly, for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the mixture simmers, is thickened and smooth. Remove from the heat.
 
Whisk a few spoonfuls of the hot mixture into the beaten eggs, then pour the heated eggs into the saucepan with the remaining hot mixture. An instant read thermometer should read 160 degrees. If not, place the pudding over medium heat for another minute or so, stirring constantly. Do not let it boil. It will curdle. Stir in the vanilla.
 
Assemble the pudding while the custard is still hot.
 
Skim coat a 9 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish or a glass dish with similar volume, such as a trifle bowl, with about 1/2 cup the hot custard. "Pave" with about 25 of the vanilla wafers, arranging the cookies side by side.
 
Peel the bananas and slice about 1/4-inch thick. Add a layer of about a third of the slices over the cookies, again arranging them side by side.
 
Spread with a third of the remaining pudding. Add another layer of cookies, then bananas, then half the remaining custard. Spread with a final layer of cookies, bananas, and the remaining pudding.
 
Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours, until the custard is well-chilled, or overnight.
 
To serve, whip the cream with the confectioners’ sugar and remaining vanilla until it holds soft peaks. Spoon the whipped cream on top of the pudding and serve.
 
Leftovers hold well in the refrigerator for 1 day.
 
 
 
 

Well, of course this is the right way to do this dessert.  No question about it.  Thank you.

Baah Ben your recipe looks great, real whipped cream makes a big difference too.  I would try Amaretto instead of almond extract, isn't the extract a bit bitter since its not sweet?

Leftovers last a day? What leftovers?

Oyster..I tasted one of the wafers after dipping it into the almond extract and it was good..So I went with it.  Incidently, I used a pure natural almond extract. 

But, I also have Ameratto in the house and I am going to use that next time..Thanks!!!! 

 My mother's recipe is similar to Jean Anderson's. There is nothing on this earth better--not even a hot Krispy Kreme! But my dear departed daddy's philosophy was this: There is no such thing as bad banana pudding, only good and better. Momma's is better, but that which is made from instant vanilla pudding is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you use the recipe calling for sour cream. Top it with real whipped cream and you will have no complaints from me. And do try the recipe in the Feb. issue Southern Living which uses Nutter Butter cookies instead of Nillas. It's toe-curling good if you are a peanut butter lover.

allyk, that sounds like my departed mother-in-laws quick banana pudding recipe. It was good but I was raised on the made in the over type with real custard.

My 2 cents   



Dennis in Cary