Banana Cream Pie

You may know that for Lent this year I gave up sweets. Over the 40 days, I kept thinking about what dessert I wanted to eat on Easter Sunday. I decided on banana cream pie. This recipe comes from The Little Pie Company in the Big Apple. I made it on Easter while visiting Lane and James in Austin. It was delicious. The recipe it a good one because it gives detailed instructions for how to make an excellent cream filling. Follow it carefully and your pie will set beautifully. Bon Appetit!

½ cup sugar

4 tablespoons cornstarch

½ teaspoon salt

4 egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 ½ cups cold milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large, just-ripe bananas (I think 2 1/2 or 3 might be better)

1 baked and cooled 9” pie shell

Sweetened whipped cream

1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan off the heat, stir the sugar, cornstarch, and salt until well blended.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the egg yolks and milk and add them to the sugar mixture; stir until combined, then scrape the bottom and sides of the pan with a rubber spatula to make sure that every last bit of sugar is mixed in.

3. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and boils. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook the pudding, stirring, for 1 minute.

4. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla until blended. Cover with wax paper and let the filling cool for about 30 minutes.

5. Slice bananas ¼ inch thick and arrange them over the bottom and sides of the prebaked shell. Spoon the filling over the bananas and smooth it with the back of the spoon.

6. Let the pie cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours. Cover only after the pie is thoroughly chilled.

Serve with sweetened whipped cream.