Make My Day Camp: Banana Pudding Tart

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Banana Pudding Tart

I saw this recipe for banana pudding tart in a Food Network magazine - I don't like bananas but I do like banana pudding (and banana bread!) and the picture that was in the magazine is beautiful so I thought I'd try it. I made 2 of them, gave one to Al and Cathy who raved over it (although Cathy thinks it's a bit sweet, but still loved it). I didn't tell her, but I didn't follow the recipe correctly and put too much of the called-for sugar in the pudding! So yep, it's bound to be a little too sweet hahahaha. I'm sure without the extra 1/2 cup I accidentally added it'll be great. I did have one problem in that I don't have a kitchen torch to brown the top of the bananas - I tried a kitchen lighter, which does not work for the record, and then I tried broiling which started to brown them but then it started burning the crust! Dave said he thought he had a blowtorch in the garage but there's no way I'm letting him use it in the kitchen haha. I was able to get a little color on the meringue using the lighter, so at least that part looked pretty.

Note: in addition to not liking bananas I also don't like meringue. But for some reason it's good on this tart - normally I'd want whipped cream but I'm not mad about the meringue this time, give it a shot and tell me if you agree! Read after the recipe for a few more notes.

FOR THE CRUST:

60 vanilla wafer cookies
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons melted butter (1/2 stick)

FOR THE FILLING AND TOPPING:

1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar, divided (I added the divided note because it tripped me up when making the pudding!), plus more for sprinkling
2 large eggs, separated (you'll use the yolks and whites in different parts of the recipe)
2 t. cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 T. unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 to 5 large bananas (another note: I only used 2 1/2 bananas)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. Make the crust: preheat oven to 350'. Place the cookies and sugar in food processor and process until finely ground. Add the melted butter and process until it looks like wet sand. Transfer to a 9 1/2" fluted tart pan and press into the bottom and up the sides. Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.

2. Make the filling: set a large fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl. Combine the milk, heavy cream,

1/4 cup sugar, the egg yolks, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan; whisk until smooth. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly until the mixture bubbles, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking for 1 minute, whisking. Remove from the heat and immediately transfer to the sieve; press through with a rubber spatula. Stir in the butter and vanilla. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

3. Peel and thinly slice 2 bananas and orange evenly on the bottom of the crust. Gently spread the filling on top of the bananas and smooth the surface. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface; refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

4. Peel and thinly slice the remaining bananas and arrange them on the tart, overlapping the slices. Sprinkle with sugar and brown with a kitchen torch.

5. Make the topping: bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the egg whites, remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cream of tartar in a large heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over the pan; cook, whisking, until the sugar dissolves, the egg whites are frothy and the mixture is warm, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until the meringue is cool and stiff peaks from about 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until the meringue is cool and stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a piping bag; pipe the meringue around the edge of the tart. Brown with the torch.

my additional notes:

I counted the whole 11 ounce box just to see how many cookies are in a box, exactly 80 just fyi! Next time I'll just remove 20 from the box and use what's left.
I have 2 tart pans, neither of which is 9 1/2" - so I doubled the crust ingredients and split between an 8" and an 11" tart pans.
step 2 you are making homemade vanilla pudding - if you want to shorten the list of ingredients just buy and make a large box of pudding!
Since I couldn't get the top of the bananas to brown they were a little wimpy looking and the leftovers turned brown pretty quickly - still tastes good just doesn't look very appetizing. If you decide to not use a kitchen torch I recommend covering the entire top of the tart with meringue (or whipped cream), it'll look much prettier.