My younger daughter is a super-smeller, like me. We have a ridiculous sense of smell. Now I am not sure I am a super-taster, but I swear she is probably the closest thing to a super-taster that I know. This comes in handy when things spoil – particularly milk. My older daughter is pretty good too, but not as good as her little sister. Years ago we were visiting some friends – both of my kids love milk – but for some reason they just weren’t drinking their milk. After the second day, I asked what was going on – and they quietly told me that the milk tasted funny. They thought it was because we were not at home, and maybe our friends bought a different type of milk. I tasted it – and there it was – the milk had gone sour. Oops.
Yesterday was a nice day – it was a holiday, and I was fasting – but what do I do when I fast? I bake. My excuse was that we were having some friends come over for dessert after break-the-fast. Truthfully, I have a much easier time fasting when I am in the kitchen. Don’t ask me why – and since I do consider my kitchen to be my place of worship – I thought it was only fitting. I had a great day reflecting, as I slowly made this Banana Cream Pie – a recipe that I found in Bon Appetit. The only problem with baking while fasting, is I am not able to try things along the way. At one point I asked my older daughter (who is not old enough yet to fast) to try the filling – just to make sure we were on the right track – and boy did she love it.
It was right before dinner when I decided to make the whipped cream topping for the pie. I whipped up the cream, and spread it on the pie. It looked amazing. It looked so good that I decided to take pictures before the sun came down. I got a few good shots and then stuck it back in the refrigerator to keep cool. At this point I was knee-deep into preparing dinner, and I just left the bowl on the counter with a few streaks of whipped cream waiting for someone to take a lick. I finished making dinner when my husband declared fasting was over. I went right over to that bowl with the whipped cream and scooped up a little of the leftover cream – wow, that was not good. I tried it again, boy that tasted horrible – I ran over the refrigerator and grabbed the leftover cream in the carton and took a whiff…oh my goodness, the cream I had purchased that day (with an expiration date of October 20th) was completely rancid. I couldn’t believe it.
I sat there for a second not knowing what to do. I certainly couldn’t let this pie go to waste – but we couldn’t eat the cream either. So, after dinner – my husband ran out to the store to get me another carton of cream (I instructed him to open it in the store to make sure it was good), and I scraped the cream off the top of the pie into the sink. Banana Cream Pie – take 2. Fortunately the next batch of whipped cream was delicious – and I spread it on top of the pie. Amazingly it was all completed before our friends arrived. The pie was delicious – particularly with that sweet cream on top. The filling though was perfect – nice and creamy with chunks of banana. Oh, and everyone loved the thin layer of chocolate between the crust and the filling.
There are lots of things I plan on doing differently this year, as always – but there was one thing I added later in the day. From now on, I am always going to smell what is in that carton before doing anything more with it – whether it is fresh off the shelf or has been sitting in the refrigerator for weeks. I definitely learned my lesson there.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- Prebaked 9″ pie crust
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- Pinch of salt
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 sliced bananas
- 1 cup chilled heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preparation
Melt 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate with 2 teaspoons vegetable oil and brush over a prebaked 9″ pie crust; chill until set. Meanwhile, whisk 3 large egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan, off heat, until smooth. Gradually whisk in 2 cups whole milk. Whisking constantly, bring to a full boil over medium heat and boil until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Fold in 3 sliced bananas and let cool slightly. Pour filling into prepared pie crust, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until firm, at least 3 hours and up to 1 day. Beat 1 cup chilled heavy cream with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract until firm peaks form; spoon over pie and swirl decoratively.
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This pie looks absolutely delicious! I love the photography!!!
This looks so good! I’ve never made banana cream pie, but I love it! This definitely needs to be made soon.
the pie looks delish!
Oh how frustrating! Glad you were able to salvage the pie! I hope you had a good holiday. Funny, I find cooking good for fasting (or practicing portion control). I think it’s the joy of cooking and all the smells that make it satisfying. :)
Dawn! Funny coincidence – we just did a post on pregnancy superpowers and why women in general tend to have better sniffers than men.
More importantly, this pie is making my preggo sweet tooth scream!
Drool…..
Just made this and followed the directions exactly! I used organic evaporated cane sugar and an organic whole wheat crust (frozen, pre-made). This was super yummy and everyone loved it! So creamy, great texture. Some said the filling could have been sweeter, so maybe next time I’ll up the amount of sugar a bit more. Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe! :)