Banana Pudding with Homemade Wafers

As served in the Loveless Cafe! This homemade banana pudding will bring back wonderful memories from years past. Enjoy!

Pastry Cream

Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 1 cup corn starch (4 ounces weighed)
• 6 cups whole milk
• 18 egg yolks
• 1/2 vanilla bean (split and seeds scraped out)
• 2 cups + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (15 ounces weighed)

Directions

1. For the pastry cream, place the cornstarch in a bowl. Add enough of the milk to completely dissolve it.
2. Add the egg yolks to the cornstarch and milk mixture and whisk together.
3. Place the vanilla bean and sugar in a heavy-bottomed, stainless steel pot.
4. Add the remaining milk and bring it to a boil.
5. When the milk is boiling, reduce the heat slightly to prevent it from boiling over the sides of the pot.
6. With a small ladle, whisk a small amount of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mix.
7. Repeat this step until one-third of the milk is mixed into the eggs.
8. Whisk this mixture into the remaining boiling milk and return it to a boil while you continue to whisk it.
9. The mix will thicken quickly. Continue whisking for 1 minute.
10. Remove from the heat and pour the cream through a sieve into a heat-proof dish (removing any lumps that may have formed).
11. Press plastic wrap onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming and place in the refrigerator to cool.

Homemade Wafers

Ingredients

• 2 cups granulated sugar (13.5 ounces weighed)
• 6 whole eggs
• 3 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (14.25 ounces weighed)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. For the wafers, place 1 3/4 cup of the sugar and eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer, and whip on high speed until it reaches the ribbon stage, (just before the soft peak stage.)
3. Sift the flour over the eggs in several batches, folding it in gently.
4. Using a piping bag with a straight tip, pipe the batter into quarter-size wafers.
5. Sprinkle liberally with the remaining sugar and bake for 10 -12 minutes or until completely golden to light brown.

Assembling your Banana Pudding

Ingredients

• 1 - 2 cups sweetened whipped cream
• 4 - 6 ripe bananas
• Pastry cream (recipe above)
• Homemade wafers (recipe above)

Directions

1. To assemble, spread a small amount of the Pastry Cream in a decorative trifle dish.
2. Top with a layer of sliced fresh bananas and then a layer of wafers.
3. Spread enough pastry cream over this to create a smooth and level surface. Repeat these steps to fill the dish, ending with a layer of the cream.
4. Wrap well and allow the pudding to sit 6 to 8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
5. Before serving, decorate with the whipped cream and wafers.