about bliss

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

twd: banana cream pie



Eating the last piece of pie on Sunday afternoon whilst writing my conference paper. My TWD blog is late because yesterday I traveled to New Orleans to present said paper and couldn't access the internet:(




"That was some love cream pie."
"It was awesome."
"What are those spices?"
"That crust looks amazing!"

So cooed and cajoled the wine club, as I debuted Dorie's banana cream pie last Saturday night. My friend B's husband S explained the mystique of Dorie's recipes, hyping the pie to the pinot grigio soaked crowd.

In short, the pie was a hit.

And this was despite a lumpy, sticky, thick custard. While I can toss together a pie crust in five minutes, ribbon butter and sugar without alarm, and whip egg whites to towering heights, custard remains my bete noir, that little devil that inspires fear and loathing.

It started so well--the smooth yolks and sugar tempered ever so carefully with hot milk. And then, half a minute into the cooking, the custard instantly hardened. I stirred and whisked frantically, to little avail. I moved the pan off the heat. I worried that the eggs weren't fully cooked and moved it back on the heat. I tasted the lumps, which were luckily not scrambled eggy bits, but just globs of goo.

After a nice rest in the refrigerator I stirred once again, as Dorie suggests. Now it was even lumpier. I splashed in milk. The custard appeared like pebbled concrete.



I sliced the bananas, splashed them with bourbon and layered the custard and fruit in the slightly shrunken but crispy crust. I swirled on the topping, a delicious whipped cream concoction I altered with florida's natural raw sgar and greek yogurt. It beautifully covered the lumps, and no one was any the wiser.



Thanks to Amy of Sing for Your Supper for choosing this recipe. And thanks to my friends for enjoying the pie.

7 comments:

  1. I had globs of goo in my custard as well. That custard, I can just hear it taunting me as I whisk. It looks like yours came together perfectly, though, and was the hit of the wine club! I hope you have a great time in New Orleans!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2:42 PM

    Bananas splashed with bourbon sound wonderful. I love pinot grigio too. YUM. I'm glad the pie was a hit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your pie looks yummy! I love the way you decorated with the whipped cream. By the way, we have the same computer - I love my Macbook :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous6:21 PM

    Yogurt in the topping sound good, and your pie is lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You have the same computer as me, only you can still see the "A" and the "S" keys, mine have worn off! LOL I'm glad you enjoyed the pie, we loved it here!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like it turned out very nice. And apparently it was well enjoyed, and that's what counts, right? Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  7. My custard was gloppy too. (sigh) I thought I might have overcooked it. Next time I'm going to chill it to room temp. and then assemble. Your pie looks beautiful! Glad it was a hit.

    ReplyDelete