How do you begin a baking blog? Not with an introduction, surely that’s not nearly catchy enough. Not with a drool-inducing photo of freshly picked berries, that would be far too little housewife on the prairie. No, I think the only appropriate way to start a blog is with an anecdote (a long one at that, hope you've got a few minutes to spare!). A fun little story about my recent baking “adventure” (read: catastrophe) all for your entertainment…we’ll save the introductions for next time.
It all started with banana cream pie. I have no idea where the idea came from but it simply would not budge. Before this week I’m not even sure I’d ever tried a cream pie. For me pies were always meant to be filled with cinnamon drenched apples or warm berries and fresh lemon tanginess, but last week that all changed. I went to the library and found a seemingly simple recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking From my Home to Yours” for this pie that called to mind images of housewives in aprons pouring instant Jello banana pudding into graham cracker crusts. Whip up some piecrust? Done. Pull together some homemade custard for the first time? Done. No problem…right? Eh…there were some minor problems. Custard ain’t so easy apparently.
The first attempt failed due to pure foolishness on my part. I mistakenly assumed that when Dorie instructed me to whisk eggs and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan that said saucepan would be over heat. Amateur mistake. Clearly if I knew anything about custards before embarking on this adventure I would have known that the first rule of custards is do not overcook the eggs. Whoops. By the time I added the cup of boiling milk to my six (that’s right, SIX wasted egg yolks) yolks and sugar it was far too late. The whisk got stuck in the clumpy mess and panic and despair ensued. EmW (you’ll meet her soon!) ensured me that the directions were in fact ambiguous and urged me to try again. In an attempt to salvage the wasted egg yolks and milk we rolled the clumpy mixture into a loaf pan and threw it in the oven because how bad can milk, sugar, and eggs be really? Pretty nasty apparently…much like a sweet, yolk-heavy egg bake gone astray. Bad, bad, bad.
Attempt number two failed because of Dorie. I’m sorry, Dorie, I really hoped we would always be good friends. You, my reliable and inspiring advisor, me your doting and trusting admirer…oh the things we could have baked together. If only you hadn’t assumed that I understood that “bringing the mixture to a boil” really would take only a few scarce seconds and that “boil” really only meant steam. If only you’d given me some signs to look for, maybe a coated metal spoon or a temperature or, heck, even a noticeable thickening while whisking. Maybe if I’d known what to look for I wouldn’t have waited to see boiling, something that never happened even after the mixture turned to clumpy goo again. Too heartbroken to try again and too mortified at having wasted twelve egg yolks, I stirred in the vanilla, put the “custard” in the fridge and went about my day. Disappointed as I was, of course it all worked out. The custard tasted perfect even though it was slightly (maybe 40 seconds) overcooked and therefore clumpy.
Once layered into my delicious crust (that was back when we were friends, Dorie) alongside ripe bananas and homemade vanilla-rich whipped cream, no one could tell. The pie was creamy and dreamy and fulfilled every one of my 1950’s fantasies. The guests at our 1950’s style dessert party devoured it without the tiniest inkling of the chaos that had gone on behind the scenes. I also managed to salvage the twelve egg whites and make an angel food cake that was nontraditional but fabulous. Stay tuned. Maybe those imaginary housewives in my head had it right when they made banana cream pie with Jello. Below is the recipe, adjusted with extra details for the custard to help guide you through. I’ve since tried custard making twice more with great success. I apologize for the lack of picture, I was so sure the pie was a failure it was just too heartbreaking to photograph. I owe you one.
-EmB
Banana Cream Pie
(adapted from Dorie Greenspan)
For the custard:
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
For the pie crust (Dorie’s Sweet Tart Dough, actually):
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
For the topping:
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sour cream
3 ripe but firm bananas
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch tart pan or a glass pie pan (I used a 9-inch Pyrex pie pan and served directly from that).
Whisk flour, powdered sugar and salt in a large bowl till combined and fluffy (you can also do this process in a food processor, but I didn’t have one and working with my hands always works just fine for pie and tart crusts). Scatter butter pieces over dry ingredients and incorporate the bits with your fingers—you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and mix it in just until the dough forms clumps and curds. Don’t work the dough any more than necessary or it will become unpleasantly dense, though I haven’t run into this problem yet. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing in the bowl. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the buttered pan, using all but one little piece of the dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Don’t press too heavily to the pan or else the crust could become dense once again. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes before baking and then you won’t need to use pie weights!
Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. Bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and patch any cracks with that left over bit of refrigerated dough. Bake for another 8 minutes or so, until the crust is firm and brown.
Transfer to a rack and cool to room temperature before filling. Bring the milk to a slow boil. Prepare an ice bath for your custard by filling a large bowl about halfway with cold water and ice, you will place the entire saucepan in this later. Place a metal spoon next to the stove so you have it ready for later…things are about to start moving a little quickly. Meanwhile, in a heavy bottomed saucepan (NOT over heat) whisk together the yolks, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until well blended and thick and slightly pale in color. Whisking without stopping, drizzle in ¼ cup of the hot milk into the egg mixture (this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won’t curdle), then another ¼ cup so that about half the hot milk remains. Then, constantly whisking, pour the remaining hot milk into the eggs in a slow, steady stream. Put the pan over medium heat and grab your metal spoon. Begin checking the custard every ten seconds or so with the metal spoon to see if it coats the back. Because of the cornstarch, this mixture will thicken very quickly if overcooked so make sure to stay alert. As soon as you coat the back of the spoon, you have custard. For the cream pie, you desire a slightly thicker cream so continue to whisk for about a minute or until the second you notice the custard starting to thicken. Remove immediately and place pan carefully in the ice bath. Let stand a few minutes then transfer the custard to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic is in direct contact with the custard (this way you won’t have that pesky skin on your custard) and cool in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
When ready to assemble, whisk heavy cream in a stand mixer (or by hand if you have mighty strong arms and a whole lot of dedication) until the cream starts to thicken. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until the cream holds firm peaks. Remove bowl from stand mixer and, using a spatula, gently fold in the sour cream. Slice the bananas thinly. Spread about ¼ of the custard over the bottom of the crust, top with half the banana slices. Repeat, adding a thin layer of custard and the remaining bananas, then smooth the rest of the custard over the bananas. Spoon the whipped cream over the filling and spread it evenly to the edges of the custard. Serve, or refrigerate if needed.
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