A Sweetie Pie for your Darling Valentine

Old-Fashioned Banana Cream Pie

And the Perfect Pie Crust

(The quickest way to his heart!)

Yield: Serves 8

Ingredients

Perfect pie crust:

*if YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER DO A GRAMHAM CRACKER CRUST INSTEAD of the pie crust.  Homemade pie crust is not difficult but it is time consuming and the recipe needs to be followed exactly. 

Combination Butter and Shortening Crust

Makes one  10 inch pie

2 ½ cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 TBS sugar

¾ cup (a stick and half) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into ¼ inch cubes (I freeze my butter then cut it—frozen works the best)

½ cup of all-vegetable shortening (8 TBS)

6-8 TBS ICE water

Directions:

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix.  Add the butter and pulse 4 times.  Add shortening in TBS chunk amounts; pulse 4 times.  The mixture should look like cornmeal with chunks of butter no larger than peas.  Sprinkle 6 TBS of ice water over the flour mixture.  Pulse a couple times.  If you pinch the dough and it holds together it is ready.  If it doesn’t hold together add a little more ice water at a time. 

Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface.  Flatten into a 6 inch disk.  Do NOT over-knead the dough!  Dust the disk lightly with flour, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least for an hour or up to two days before rolling out.

After dough is chilled take it out.  If it is too stiff let it sit for 10 minutes at room temperature.  Sprinkle a little flour on a clean surface and on the top of the dough.  Using a rolling pin apply light pressure while rolling outwards from the center of the dough forming a circle.  The circle should extend at least 2 inches all around the pie pan when you place it upside down on your rolled out pie crust.  When the dough has reached the right size, gently fold it in half.  I like to use a thin metal spatula to run under the pie crust so it doesn’t stick before you fold the pie crust in half.  Place the folded pie crust in an ungreased pie pan.  Use your finger in a pinching motion or the lines of a fork to crimp the edge of a pie crust. 

 There are directions at the end of this post for how to pre-bake a pie crust.

Banana Cream Filling:

·         1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

·         1/4 cup cornstarch

·         1/8 teaspoon table salt

·         1/2 cup heavy cream

·         5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

·         2 cups milk, anywhere from 1% to whole milk

·         2 teaspoons vanilla extract  (start with 1 tsp, taste, and add 2nd tsp if desired)

·         2 tablespoons butter

·         2 medium bananas

Whipped Cream Topping:

·         1 cup heavy cream

·         2 -3 tablespoons powdered sugar

·         1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.      Refrigerate the COOLED pie shell until firm, about 30 minutes.

2.      For the filling, whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the or heavy cream, followed by the egg yolks and finally the milk until the mixture is smooth. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low to medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and becomes smooth. This could take anywhere from 5-10 minutes from start to finish so be patient if it doesn't thicken quickly. The finished texture and thickness should be that of a not-quite set pudding - very thick but not gelatinous. Remove the pan from the heat and if desired, strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer to get rid of any possible lumps or little bits of cooked egg; whisk in the butter and vanilla to the hot pudding (strained or not, it's your choice). Let the mixture cool until just warm, stirring often, about 5 minutes.

3.      Pour half of the warm filling into the pre-baked pie shell. Peel and slice the bananas thinly on top of the filling and top with remaining filling. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly over filling surface. Refrigerate pie until it is completely chilled, at least 3 hours or up to 6 hours.

4.      For the topping, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla together until soft peaks form. Spread or pipe the whipped cream over the top of the pie. Refrigerate until ready to serve. The pie is best made and served the same day so the banana slices don't get mushy and browned. 

*A tip for piping frosting:  Take your piping bag and put the desired tip in it.  Then fold your bag over itself like the following pic (this step will keep your bag clean and eliminate some of the air).  Fill with whip topping and pull the folded over bag up.  Squeeze out air and pipe away.

How to Pre-Bake a Pie Crust

If your recipe calls for a pre-baked crust, as many custard pie recipes do, follow the steps ABOVE until you get to the point where it says to put in the filling.  Once you have your pie crust in your pan and the edges are crimped freeze the crust for 30 minutes otherwise the sides will slip down while baking.

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Take the crust out of the freezer and line the pie crust with wax paper or aluminum foil.  Fill to the top with pie weights, rice or beans (I use dry beans).  Bake with weights for 20 minutes.  Remove from over, cool a few minutes, and remove all the pie weights and the wax paper/foil.  Poke a couple small holes in the bottom of the pie crust.  Return to the over (without the weights) and bake for an additional 10 minutes, until the crust is golden.  Cool completely before filling.  You may need to tent the edges of the pie with aluminum foil when you bake your pie, to keep the edges from getting too dried out or burnt.

Here are a couple of options for decorating with whip topping:

This pie will leave him saying YES all night!

Enjoy!