Banana Cream Pie

4.99 from 51 ratings

This classic Banana Cream Pie has a sweet pastry crust filled with a silky, smooth, lightened vanilla pastry cream tossed with ripe bananas and topped with a generous amount of whipped cream! It is layered with flavors and perfect for your next barbecue, dinner party or potluck.

Prep Time1

Cook Time30

Total Time1 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: Slices

Author: Chef Lindsey

Ingredients

For the Pastry Cream:

1 cup milk
¼ vanilla bean split and scraped
¼ cup sugar
½ egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons cornstarch

For the Pâte Sucrée:

¾ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter cubed
2 eggs
3 cups pastry flour or all purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt

For Pie Assembling:

1 tablespoon rum
⅔ cup heavy cream for filling
4 bananas
1 cup heavy cream for topping

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the Pastry Cream:

Add the milk and sugar to a medium saucepan. Then, split and scrape the seed from half a vanilla bean. Add the seeds to the milk mixture and whisk together. Heat the mixture on medium heat until it boils.
While the milk is coming to a boil, whisk together the egg and egg yolks. Then Blanchir the eggs with cornstarch. This means whisking the cornstarch and eggs together to lighten them and gives them more protection from the hot milk.
Once the milk has come to a boil, it's time to temper it into the blanchired eggs. Slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the eggs while you continue to whisk. I prefer to pour all the milk into the eggs to ensure they are fully tempered.
Pour the mixture back into the pot. Continue to cook on medium-low heat and whisk, ensuring you touch the bottom of the pan at all times and scraping the edges to prevent burning and clumping.
Cook the pastry cream until it has thickened and starts to boil. Once it starts to boil, set a timer or watch the clock for 1 minute and continue to whisk. It needs to boil for one minute to activate the cornstarch properly and to cook out the starch flavor and mouthfeel.
Pour the pastry cream onto a plastic-lined sheet tray or baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap, poke a few holes, and cool completely in the refrigerator.

Prepare the Crust:

On a lightly floured surface, roll the pie crust out to about a ⅛ inch thick. Allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. And preheat the oven to 350°F. You can also use a store-bought pie crust and blind bake it or purchase a baked graham cracker crust for a super easy option.
Once cooled, gently place the crust in the pie dish and fit the dough to be flush with the bottom and sides of the dish. There will be an overhang from the dough.
Trim the overhanging dough, leaving about an inch to roll under tightly. This can be done with kitchen scissors or a sharp paring knife. Be sure to roll the dough tightly to avoid the crust from unrolling during the baking process. For extra insurance, crimp or flute the edges with a fork or your fingers. Chill again until firm.
With a fork, dock the dough all around the base of the bottom. Line with parchment paper and fill with pie weights, dried beans or rice. Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Check that the crust has browned on the bottom and is completely matte. Then remove the parchment and weights, continue to bake for another 8-12 minutes until the bottom and edges have turned golden brown. Allow to cool completely before filling. You can see step by step instructions for how to blind bake pie crust in this post and read more about when to dock pie crust in this post.

Assemble the Pie:

Whip the heavy cream for the filling to medium peaks. When the whisk is removed and held straight up, the cream should fold over itself slightly. I like to whip both the cream for the filling and topping simultaneously, which means you will need a kitchen scale to divide it—160 g for the filling and 238g for the topping.
To refresh or condition the pastry cream, place it in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. This can also be done by hand. Beat the pastry cream on medium-high speed until smooth. Then, turn the mixer down and beat in the rum.
Slice the bananas in ¼ inch slices. They can be cut into smaller pieces if you prefer. Take a small amount of the whipped cream for the filling and fold it into the pastry cream. This small amount of cream will further loosen the pastry cream to make it easier to fold in the remaining cream. This is called “sacrificing” because you sacrifice the air in a small amount of the whipped cream by folding it in aggressively.
Fold in the remaining cream in increments. Once the cream is almost completely folded, fold in the sliced bananas. Then, pour the filling into the cooled pie crust and smooth out.
Top the filling with the remaining whipped cream. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to overnight. This allows the filling to set, making for a beautiful sliceable pie.

Optional Bruleed Banana Coins:

Before serving, top with banana coins or bruleed bananas. To make the bruleed banana coins, slice a few pieces of bananas and place them on a metal heat-proof baking sheet or dish.
Sprinkle granulated sugar on top of the bananas and brulee with a kitchen torch.
Like with a creme brulee, this needs to be done right before serving. Otherwise, the caramel will absorb the moisture from the bananas and liquefy.

Notes

Yield – 1, 9-inch pie

Presentation – If you choose to brulee the banana coins, be sure to serve it immediately after adding them to the pie.

Flavor Tips – Perfectly ripened bananas will go a long way. We all know that one point where the bananas will taste perfect! Banana is the flavor, and I want the best banana cream pie for you!

Storage –Store in the refrigerator, covered with a cake dome or loosely with plastic wrap, for 3-4 days.

Nutrition