S'mores Banana Cream Pie

 

This week's bake is a S'mores Banana Cream Pie from Rick Martinez of Food 52! It has a buttery Graham Cracker Crust with a layer of dark chocolate, a homemade banana pudding filling and a toasted marshmallow meringue topping ! 

Banana pudding is quite popular in the southern United States. No Southern potluck, wedding, funeral, or summer cookout is complete without a fresh-from-the-fridge pile of custard, bananas, and Nilla Wafers.

Banana pudding may be one of the first desserts in the South to feature an item completely unrelated to the area's agriculture.  Americans didn't have easy access to bananas— which are grown throughout the Caribbean and Latin America—until the invention of steamships in the late-1800s. These ships brought a steady influx of bananas to the U.S., and to New Orleans in particular, thanks to its proximity to the Panama.

Not surprisingly, more bananas meant more banana recipes. The first full recipe for banana pudding reportedly appeared in an issue of Good Housekeeping in 1888. The Post and Courier reports that the recipe featured custard and bananas alternated with layers of sponge cake and finished with whipped cream.

Other variations of the dish began popping up around this time. Some used lady madeleines to form the layers and meringue in lieu of whipped cream. But the banana pudding we know and love wasn't born until 1921, when a home cook named Laura Kerley provided her recipe to Pantagraph in Bloomington, Illinois. Kerley's recipe featured vanilla custard, bananas, and, for the first time, Nabisco Nilla Wafers. It was a nationwide hit, and by the 1940s, Nabisco added its official banana pudding recipe on their box, where it remains to this day.

Here is the recipe:

S’mores Banana Cream Pie

By Rick Martinez

makes 1 (9-inch) round deep dish pie

Ingredients

For the pudding:

4 1/2 cups whole milk, divided

2/3 cups (133 grams) granulated sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon sea salt, divided

5 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cups shredded coconut

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the crust:

15 sheets graham crackers, finely crumbled (230 grams)

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup (75 grams) granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup (90 grams) dark chocolate, chopped

2 bananas, peeled and thinly sliced

For the meringue:

5 large egg whites

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon (255 grams) granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the pudding: Heat 4 cups of the milk in a large saucepan over medium heat until steaming. Whisk the cornstarch and ½ teaspoon salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar together until pale and creamy, then whisk in the cornstarch mix and remaining ½ cup milk. Once steaming, whisk half of the hot milk into the egg mixture until smooth, then gradually whisk the egg-milk mixture into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils, 6 to 8 minutes. Continue to cook, whisking constantly, until it has thickened to a pudding-like consistency, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, coconut, and butter until completely incorporated and butter is melted. Transfer to a bowl, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding, and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until completely chilled and thickened, about 4 hours.

Make the crust: Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350°F. Place graham crackers in a food processor and grind into fine crumbs. Add butter, sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt and process to combine. The mixture should resemble wet sand. Transfer mixture into an ungreased 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Using medium pressure and a flat bottomed measuring cup, pat down the crumbs into the bottom and sides of the plate until the crumbs form a compact crust. Pass the rounded front of a small spoon around the bottom corner where the edge and bottom meet to help make a rounded crust—this helps prevent the crust from breaking apart when you cut slices.

Bake until the crust is golden brown and the edges are darker brown, about 10 minutes. Immediately after you pull it from the oven, sprinkle chocolate over the top of the hot crust. The heat of the crust will melt the chocolate. After 10 minutes, use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate evenly over the top and sides of the crust. Let cool completely, then arrange the banana slices in an even layer. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to assemble.

Make the meringue: Fill a wide saucepan with at least 1 ½ inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Combine egg whites, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Set over the simmering water, and begin stirring and scraping constantly with a rubber spatula until egg whites reach 175°F (79°C), about 9 minutes. Transfer to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip at high speed until meringue is glossy and beginning to ball up inside the whisk, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla and whip to combine.

Remove bowl from mixer and use a kitchen blow torch to char the top of the meringue in the bowl. Return to the mixer and whip at high speed for about 15 seconds to combine. Repeat the process 4 more times. This will give you the flavor of toasted marshmallows.

Assemble the pie: Remove plastic and re-whisk the pudding vigorously until smooth and creamy. Pour into chilled crust and use an offset spatula to evenly spread over top. Spoon meringue over pie, swirling decoratively. Use a kitchen blow torch to toast meringue. Serve chilled.

Here are some pictures from the bake:

Have a great day !