How to make banana cream pie with three different recipes to try.

Banana Cream Pie is a much-loved dessert predominantly made from bananas, egg yolks, vanilla essence, milk, sugar, butter and flour.

The ingredients are mixed together to form a custard-type filling, which is poured over a layer of bananas that sits on the bottom of a shell.

The shell is either a piecrust made from shortcrust pastry or from crushed digestive or ginger biscuits. The pie is often topped with a large dollop of whipped cream or meringue made from the leftover egg whites.

As desserts go, this one is extremely high in calories, fat and sugar, so take care not to consume too much at once, although due to the fact that banana cream pie is so delicious, that will be extremely hard to do.

Banana Cream Pie Recipe

Ingredients

1 baked 9-inch pie crust
480ml (17fl oz) of milk
150g (5oz) of sugar
40g (1½oz) of plain flour
4 sliced bananas
3 egg yolks
2 tbsp of butter
2 tsp of vanilla extract
¼ tsp of salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C (350°F).
Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the flour, sugar and salt. Stir well whilst cooking over a medium heat.
Stir continuously until the mixture begins to bubble and then continue to cook for a further 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat.
In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks.
Add a little of the warm milk mixture to the yolks and mix.
Transfer this mixture back to the pan and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring all the while.
Remove from the heat and add the butter and the vanilla extract. Stir well until smooth.
Arrange most of the sliced bananas in a layer in the bottom of the piecrust.
Pour the custard mixture over the top of the bananas.
Arrange the remaining bananas on top in a decorative pattern.
Place the dish into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Ginger Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients

For the base
200g (7oz) of crushed ginger biscuits
70g (2½oz) of melted butter
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
For the filling
340g (12oz) of cream cheese at room temperature
170g (6oz) of mashed ripe bananas
55ml (2fl oz) of natural yoghurt
1 tsp of vanilla essence
For the topping
225ml (8fl oz) of whipping cream
3 sliced bananas

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
Mix together the ingredients for the pie base with a wooden spoon.
Transfer the mixture to a pie dish and spread evenly across the base and up the sides.
Place the dish into the oven and bake for 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the dish.
To make the filling, place all of the filling ingredients into an electric processor and process until a smooth mixture forms.
Pour the filling into the pie base in an even layer and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
Whip the cream until it peaks and spread over the chilled pie.
Arrange the sliced bananas on top of the cream in a pattern.

Chocolate Base Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients

For the base
375g (13oz) of crushed digestive biscuits
75g (2½oz) of melted butter
55g (2oz) of melted dark chocolate
For the filling
750ml (1¼ pints) of milk
115g (4oz) of sugar
75g (1½oz) of cornstarch
4 egg yolks
2 sliced bananas
2 tbsp of butter
½ tsp of cinnamon
½ tsp of ground nutmeg
For the topping
250ml (9fl oz) of whipping cream
2 tbsp of grated dark chocolate

Method

In a mixing bowl whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and a third of the milk until a smooth consistency develops. Set to one side.
In a saucepan, heat the remaining milk until it just starts to bubble.
Remove from the heat and pour into the egg yolk mixture. Mix with an electric hand-whisk.
Return the pan to a medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes or until the mixture thickens.
Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and the butter and stir well.
Transfer to a bowl and cover with clingfilm. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
In a bowl, combine the crushed biscuits with the butter and spread in a layer over the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie dish.
Chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the bottom of the pie base and chill for 15 minutes in the fridge.
Pour half of the custard into the base of the pie dish.
Arrange the sliced bananas on top.
Pour the remaining custard mixture over the bananas.
Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
In a mixing bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form.
Pipe or spoon over the custard to cover and sprinkle with the grated chocolate.