Aaron's Banana Cream Pie

My youngest, Aaron, cobbled this recipe together from 3 other recipes that he found on the interwebs one day while he was hungry in class. He came home and made it for us. Cynthia, his older sister, cried when she took her first bite because it tasted so good. I made it for my coworkers and got a very consistent response, which was (paraphrased) "This is great! When can I have the recipe?"

Well, this is it. The crust is from The Spruce Eats, the filling is from Allrecipes, and the whipped topping is from my French Silk Pie recipe.

Here are the crust and filling recipes. I don't recommend making the topping until the crust has been filled and it has cooled, so once you're at that point, head over to that recipe.

Vanilla Wafer Cookie Crust Ingredients

1 1/2 cups fine vanilla wafer cookie crumbs (about 30-35 cookies worth)

2 tbsp granulated sugar (vanilla sugar is good here, but regular is just fine)

5 tbsp softened unsalted butter

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add vanilla wafer cookies and sugar to a food processor an pulse until crumbs are fine (about the same as commercial bread crumbs.) Add the butter and pulse until combined. Turn out crumb mixture into a 9" pie tin and press into the bottom and sides of the dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes and cool completely before filling (it should be cool by the time the filling is done).

Banana Cream Pie Filling Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (don't substitute vanilla sugar-it doesn't work)

Up to 4 bananas, sliced (enough to cover the bottom of the pie crust)

Instructions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (if not already hot.) Cover the bottom of the pie crust with banana slices. Place egg yolks in a small heat resistant bowl and beat them thoroughly.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, cook over medium-low heat until it boils and begins to thicken, then let it simmer for two more minutes while stirring constantly. I mean stirring constantly! This stuff desperately wants to burn to the pan and ruin itself. Do not stop stirring thoroughly while it's on the heat!

Remove the milk mixture from the heat and whisk about 3 tablespoons into the beaten egg yolks, then whisk the egg mixture into the milk mixture. Return to heat for two more minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and mix in vanilla and butter.

Pour over banana slices and level the pudding in the pie pan. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 1 hour before topping with a whipped topping.

It's quite good if you sprinkle toasted almond slices or some toasted reserved cookie crumbs over the whipped topping.

I intend to try making the filling in the top of a double-boiler just to see if it's easier. I'll update this recipe later with the results.

French Silk Pie

I know, I must have lost my mind posting another recipe so soon after putting my Lasagna recipe up. But today is Pi Day (March 14th, or 3.14.) My daughter asked me to make a pie for it, so I looked up my French Silk Pie recipe, and realized I don't have it online. I decided I needed to fix that.
Really, this is a three-recipe dessert: Crust, filling, and topping. You can use my mom's Fool Proof Pie Crust recipe, or a Graham Cracker crust, for it. I'm going to include a whipped cream topping recipe that has the advantage of never separating.
My daughter is trying to make a peanut butter pie filling to put in the bottom of the pie. I'll try to let you know how that goes later.
Please note, you will definitely want a sturdy powered stand mixer for this recipe, such as a KitchenAid. You can't mix this by hand in any meaningful way, and cheaper plastic-body or hand-held mixers can't stand up to the roughly 25 minutes of continual use this recipe calls for. I actually melted the case of the first stand mixer I tried to use for this recipe!

Please note that the filling contains uncooked eggs and is never cooked. Always use fresh eggs when making this and do not serve it to young children, pregnant women, or the elderly.
For now, here's the French Silk Pie recipe, shockingly unmodified.

French Silk Pie

1-Cooked and cooled pie crust or Graham Cracker pie crust
1-2 Cups Whipped Cream Topping (see below recipe for a good version)
3 oz Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
3/4 Cup Softened Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 Large Very Fresh Eggs

Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler or microwave oven; cool, but make sure it is still a liquid (roughly 97 degrees.) In a sturdy mixers bowl, cream the butter, then add the sugar and vanilla. Beat well for about five minutes. Add the melted chocolate and mix it in well. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing at a medium speed for five minutes for each, and scraping the bowl down between each egg. Do not try to rush this. It will take at least 25 minutes of mixing to do it right. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust and top with the whipped topping (recipe follows.)

Whipped Cream Topping

1-Tsp Unflavored Gelatin
2-Tbsp Cold Water
2-Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2-Cup Powdered Sugar
2-Tsp Vanilla Extract

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a small heatproof bowl and let sit for a few minutes. Place the bowl in a shallow saucepan of water and heat over low heat until the gelatin dissolves. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the cream. In a large mixer bowl, combine the cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat well until the mixture holds its shape. Add the reserved cream to the gelatin and quickly mix it into the whipped cream. Beat until stiff peaks form.