Bananas Foster Pudding Pie

Bananas Foster is a flambé dessert that was created at Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans in 1951. It’s a brown sugar and butter sauce, with lightly cooked bananas, drenched in liquor and delivered to your table on fire! It’s typically served over ice cream and makes for a very impressive dessert!

But there is a drawback to this flaming favorite – it’s hard to serve a crowd. You typically don’t make more than a serving or two at a time – and no one wants to be stuck in the kitchen over a fiery pan, whipping up a dozen batches of Bananas Foster, while their guests are enjoying dessert and cocktails. Another downside to the traditional Bananas Foster? On the next day, when your mouth is watering, thinking about last night’s dessert, there is nothing left-over to satiate the craving – Bananas Foster just doesn’t keep.

So how do you feel about a Bananas Foster Pudding Pie? I feel pretty good about it! This pie combines all the flavors and fabulousness of the traditional dessert, with the ease of serving a piece of pie. Now – there is a little more work on the front end. But the resulting pie will feed a crowd and last for days in the fridge (yea right, good luck with that….)

Bananas Foster Pudding Pie

• Graham cracker crust
• 4 bananas, sliced
• Foster sauce
• 1 package instant Vanilla pudding
• 1 1/2 C. cold milk
• Stabilized whip cream

Bake graham cracker crust at 350, for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

Combine milk and pudding in a medium bowl. Beat for 2 minutes, or until smooth. Gently fold stabilized whip cream into pudding.

Arrange sliced bananas into graham cracker crust – they should slightly overlap. Slowly pour Foster sauce over bananas, making sure to coat them evenly. Spoon pudding mixture over top. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Stabilized Whip Cream

• 1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
• 4 tsp. cold water
• 1 C. heavy cream
• 1/4 C. sugar

In a small sauce pan, combine gelatin and water. Stir over low heat until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool (but not set).

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip cream on high until starting to thicken. Lower speed to medium and slowly add sugar. Once combined, slowly pour in cooled gelatin. Continue to whip until cream is stiff.

Foster Sauce

• 4 T. butter
• 1 C. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 C. banana liqueur
• 1/4 C. dark rum

Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a flambé pan or skillet. Place the pan over low heat and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the banana liqueur, and carefully add the rum. Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot and bubbly, then tip the pan slightly to ignite the rum*. Remove from the stove and allow flames to burn out.

*setting the rum on fire is not required – this is really for show. If you do not want to ignite the rum, just allow the sauce to cook for a few minutes longer.

Recipes courtesy of Wilton and Brennan’s Restaurant 

Meyer Lemon Pillow Cheesecake

Thanks to my good friend Myles, I have a big bag of home grown Meyer lemons! I can rarely find them at my grocery store, so I never get the chance to use them. The meyer lemon is a hybrid citrus fruit – a lemon mixed with an orange. It has the flavor of a lemon, with hints of sweet orangeness – I am excited to put them to good use!

I found this Pillow Cheesecake recipe on Pinterest a few months back. This is by far the BEST cheesecake filling recipe I have found. Whipped egg whites make the texture is so light and fluffy…it’s the ideal cheesecake. So it seems a great starting point for my Meyer lemon cheesecake. If you have some time, definitely read her post – she has some good tips for making cheesecake.

Crust

• 1 1/2 Cups graham cracker crumbs
• 6 Tablespoons melted butter
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients in a fork. Pour into a 9″ spring-form pan, and use a glass to pat the crumbs down evenly. Refrigerate for an hour. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Filling

• 1 Cup sugar
• Zest of one Meyer lemon
• 2 Pounds cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/4 Cup sour cream
• 5 eggs, separated
• 2 Tablespoons corn starch, sifted

Combine sugar and zest in a food processor. Pulse until fine and combined.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix cream cheese, butter, sour cream, lemon sugar, and corn starch. Beat until just combined. Add the egg yolks one at a time, making sure each is completely incorporated and smooth.

In a clean bowl, whip room temperature egg whites until stiff. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

Pour the batter into the spring form pan and wrap the bottom in tin foil. Place the pan into a roasting dish, and add enough hot water to cover half of the pan.

Bake at 325 for 1 1/2 hours. When finished, crack open the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool (in the oven) for half an hour. Remove and continue to cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate and serve cold.

I served my cake with a quick lemon-vanilla sauce. Use the juice of your zested Meyer lemon, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and powdered sugar.