Banana Cream Pie

YUM!  That is the one word I use to describe this pie.  I know it would be easy to buy some pudding mix and throw a pie together, but I wanted to make everything from scratch.  It didn't disappoint and it was easy!

Mom says this pie reminds her of her dad's banana cream pie.  Last night she was over for dinner and she told this great story.  When my grandfather was stationed in Hawaii, during WWII, his platoon was getting ready to be shipped out.  Grandpeepaw was in line, getting his immunizations.  He had a reaction to a shot and fainted.  Needless to say, he became very ill and was not able to recover for 3 weeks.  By this time his platoon had already gone to the Pacific.

The commanders didn't quite know what to do with my grandfather so they asked him what his skills were.  He told them that he was a baker by trade.  The man asked him if he knew how to make banana cream pie and my grandfather said yes.  The man said, "Come with me."  Grandpeepaw followed him to the kitchen, and made a banana cream pie.  It turns out, that was the favorite pie of the base commander!  That is where grandpeepaw finished the war!

If this pie resembles anything like his, I am proud!

Ingredients for the crust:

1 1/2 packages of graham crackers
5 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla

Ingredients for the pie:

1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups + 1/4  cup whole milk
3 bananas, sliced
1 jar of ice cream caramel sauce
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Put the graham crackers in your food processor to make crumbs.  Slowly add the melted butter and vanilla.

Press the crumbs into a well greased pie plate.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool.

In a saucepan, add 2 cups of whole milk and 1/2 cup sugar.  Heat on medium, stirring constantly.  Add the salt.   

In a separate bowl, add the 1/4 cup milk, cornstarch and egg yolks.  Whisk.  When the heated milk mixture is near boiling, take 1/2 cup of hot milk and whisk it into the egg mixture.  Then, slowly whisk the egg mixture into the hot milk.  This is called tempering the eggs.  If you do not do this, the eggs will scramble when you pour it into the hot milk.

Let the milk boil slightly, stirring constantly.  When it starts to thicken up, remove from heat.  Stir in the vanilla and let cool.

With your mixer, whip together the heavy cream and powdered sugar.  Let that mix for several minutes until it becomes whipped cream.  Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the pie.

When the pudding is completely cool, slice the bananas.  Layer them in the bottom of the pie shell.

Pour some caramel sauce on the bananas.

Layer pudding on top and repeat.

Cover entire pie with whipped cream.

Chill and serve.

Enjoy!