Caramel Banana Pudding
My take on banana pudding. Bananas are flavored with cinnamon, brown sugar and rum. In the style of Schmananas Schmoster.
Equipment
- 1 whisk
- 1 pan, sauce, 2 quart, with lid
- 1 spatula
- 1 mixing bowl, stainless
- 1 ladle
- 1 loaf pan, glass, 1.5 quart
- 1 pan, saute, 12 inch nonstick, with lid
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Pudding
- 1 ea vanilla bean, scraped
- 32 fl oz half and half
- 4 ea egg yolks
- 188 g sugar, white, granulated
- 32 g starch, corn
- 1 g salt, kosher
- .5 oz butter, salted
For the Caramelized Bananas
- 4 ea banana, almost ripe sliced into coins
- 1 oz butter, salted
- 2 oz sugar, brown
- 4 g cinnamon, ground
- 1.5 fl oz rum, spiced
Assembly
- as required Nilla wafers
- as required Whipped Cream Or whipped cream substitute. Rhymes with "schmool schmip".
Instructions
For the pudding
- Heat your half and half, sugar, vanilla bean, vanilla bean innards, and salt over medium heat until milk becomes steamy.1 ea vanilla bean, scraped, 32 fl oz half and half, 188 g sugar, white, granulated, 1 g salt, kosher
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and cornstarch. This will be pasty, not unlike myself.4 ea egg yolks, 32 g starch, corn
- When your vanilla dairy soup is hot, temper in a ladle of it into your yolkstarch paste, whisking in vigorously.
- Do it again.
- Do it again.
- Pour all your vanilla dairy soup/yolkstarch into your pan of remaining vanilla dairy soup, whisking to incorporate.
- Ditch the whisk and grab an actual spatula. Not a flipper, but a spatula.
- Over medium high heat, cook your custard until it starts to thicken, a little beyond nape.
- For the love of God, take it off the heat as soon as it does because carryover thermodynamics isn't just for meat. Immediately pour the custard into a pan for chilling.
- Stir in your butter. Fish out your vanilla bean pods..5 oz butter, salted
- Cover with plastic wrap, directly on the surface of the pudding to keep it from forming "pudding skin" while cooling. Unless you like pudding skin, then you declare your independence from skinless pudding and regime that demands it!
- Pudding should probably chill for about 2 to 4 hours or until thick.
Caramelized bananas
- Assuming your pudding has set up, go get it out of the fridge.
- Fire up your non-stick saute pan over medium high heat.
- Toss in your butter and let it melt and bubble until the bubbling stops. That's the soul of the butter leaving it's body.1 oz butter, salted
- Add your brown sugar and stir it as you would making a roux.2 oz sugar, brown
- When the brown sugar starts to melt, lower your heat to medium low. Plenty of heat in the sugar and butter fat. Add your cinnamon and incorporate.4 g cinnamon, ground
- Add your bananas and incorporate. Be gentle. You'll lose some banana slices in the process, that's OK, it makes for better pan-goo. Now TURN OFF YOUR HEAT.4 ea banana, almost ripe
- Add your rum OFF HEAT. Seriously. This is going to flame up and as such, relatively dangerous. Keep your pan lid close by if things get out of control.1.5 fl oz rum, spiced
- Now, turn your heat back on. If you're using gas, tilt the edge of the pan toward the flame to ignite the rum. It'll burn off in a few seconds (video below). If you are not cooking with gas, you can ignite the rum as soon as it heats up with a cigarette lighter or handy kitchen torch. You can also not ignite it and just let it cook off naturally.
- Allright. Once you've dealt with the alcohol in the manner of your choosing, turn off your heat. It's show time.
Showtime
- Line the bottom of your loaf pan with Nilla wafers. Sides, too.as required Nilla wafers
- Add a layer of your pudding.
- Add a layer of more Nilla wafers.
- Spoon in your bananas.
- Pour in the "banana gravy". leave out any chunks of congealed caramel. This dish is sweet enough.
- Add another layer of Nilla wafers.
- Add another layer of pudding.
- Refrigerate until service.
- Garnish with whipped cream at service. If you don't want to make your own, get the Redi-whip in the can. It's just fun.as required Whipped Cream
Video
Notes
OK, so banana pudding flavored with a reasonable amount of danger. Seriously, be damned careful with the rum. Things can go sideways easily.
Variations on this include using boxed pudding mix, making your own vanilla wafers, not caramelizing the bananas, making a crust with ground Nilla wafers and butter like you would for a graham cracker crust. You could even add oysters. I wouldn't but it's your kitchen.
The reason I did the caramelized bananas is because the bananas break down quickly as the pudding rests in the fridge, which is rather slimey on the palate. I'm not a fan. However, by caramelizing prior to being added, they have an excuse for being extra slippery.
Oh, and it tastes good. Also fire. Mustn't forget fire.
Nutrition
Serving: 8ozCalories: 710kcal
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
