Mississippi Banana Pudding
Everyone is familiar with the Banana Pudding picture on the box of vanilla wafers. However, I have searched the web and ordered banana pudding in restaurants. They all fall short of the banana pudding mom made on the farm. It's a diet buster, so make it for special occasions and just have a little taste (if you can). There are no shortcuts, so be patient because it's worth it.
Everyone is familiar with the Banana Pudding picture on the box of vanilla wafers. However, I have searched the web and ordered banana pudding in restaurants. They all fall short of the banana pudding mom made on the farm. It's a diet buster, so make it for special occasions and just have a little taste (if you can). There are no shortcuts, so be patient because it's worth it.
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 8 egg yolks
- 2 1/2 cans carnation milk
- 2 sticks salted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon banana extract
- 75 nilla wafers (approximately)
- 5 ripe bananas sliced (about 3 1/2 cups), divided
- 1 extra nilla wafers for garnish
- 4 eggs whites
- 1 cream of tartar (optional) pinch
- Carbohydrate 28.8204708333333 g
- Cholesterol 320.198333333333 mg
- Fat 21.472505 g
- Fiber 1.27833328644435 g
- Protein 5.49003833333333 g
- Saturated Fat 11.8942841666667 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (184g)
- Sodium 138.127416666667 mg
- Sugar 27.542137546889 g
- Trans Fat 1.380998 g
- Calories 321 calories
Step-by-step
- Beat egg yolks until stiff with a mixer. In a large pot, heat carnation milk over medium heat. While stirring, add one tablespoon of the hot milk to the egg yolks and stir to incorporate. Add another tablespoon and stir. Repeat again. Then add 2 tablespoons to the yolks and stir. Repeat.
- Slowly stir the egg yolk mixture into the milk. Add 3/4 cups sugar and stir continuously, ensuring the mixture does not stick to the bottom. Add both sticks of butter.
- Continuously stir the mixture until the butter melts and the mixture coats the back of the spoon. Add both the vanilla and banana extracts. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Place 3 tablespoons of the pudding in the bottom of a 2 quart glass dish. Place a layer of nilla wafers over the custard and then a layer of bananas. Add enough custard to cover the bananas. Repeat twice more. Pour the remaining custard on top. Neatly stand more nilla wafers around the edge of the dish.
- Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add cream of tartar and 1/4 cup sugar. Beat until barely stiff. Spread evenly on top of pudding.
- Place in the oven, under the broiler until golden brown (watch it carefully). Refrigerate until completely cool or overnight.
A raw ingredient list cannot convey the precise thermal control required to transform evaporated milk, egg yolks, and butter into a stable, velvety custard without curdling the dairy proteins or scrambling the eggs. Tempering the yolks slowly by whisking hot liquid into them spoonful by spoonful prevents thermal shock, while continuous agitation over medium heat ensures the starches and fats thicken evenly without scorching the bottom of the pot.
- Temper the eight egg yolks gradually by incorporating at least six tablespoons of the heated carnation milk before returning the mixture to the main pot, which prevents protein coagulation.
- Cook the custard base until it achieves the classic nappé consistency, meaning it coats the back of a spoon and leaves a clean path when you drag a finger through it.
- Whip the four egg whites to soft peaks before gradually adding the quarter cup of sugar and pinch of cream of tartar, yielding a stable meringue that will not weep during storage.
- Place the assembled dish under the broiler for roughly sixty to ninety seconds while watching constantly, as high sugar content transitions from golden-brown to burned very rapidly.
- Chill the finished dessert thoroughly in the refrigerator for at least four hours, or ideally overnight, allowing the moisture from the fruit and custard to soften the wafers into cake-like layers.
Proper sequencing transforms basic pantry items into a cohesive dessert with distinct textural contrasts between the crisp wafers, tender fruit, and airy meringue topping. Refrigeration is not merely for cooling; it is the critical phase where starches fully set and flavors meld into a unified whole.
