Arowhon Pines
BANANA CREAM PIE

There's enough pastry for 2" x 9" deep pie shells. We suggest you bake both and freeze one - for the inevitable repeat performance!

NOTE: Can be done ahead to ***


PASTRY:

3 cpastry flour
4 oz unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes, very cold
4 oz vegetable shortening, cut into cubes slightly bigger than the butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c iced water
2 tsp lemon juice
1 deep 9" glass pie plate


METHOD:

  • Blend flour, shortening, butter and salt in mixer or by hand until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  • Add lemon juice and then gradually add enough water to hold dough together.
  • Wrap and chill 2 hours or up to 5 days.
  • Preheat regular oven to 400 degrees.
  • Line pie plate, handling pastry as little as possible.
  • Decoratively flute the edges and refrigerate about 1/2 hour.
  • Line shell with foil and pie weights and bake 20 minutes, remove foil and weights and bake additional 10 minutes or until golden. Cool.


THE FILLING:

1/2 c sugar
2 egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
6 TB flour
3 c boiling homogenized milk
2 1/2 TB unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla, pure
6-7 ripe bananas
  35% cream, whipped for garnish
1 TB apple juice
1/4 c apricot or peach glaze
  Crushed walnuts


METHOD:

  • Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow and forms the ribbon.
  • Beat in the salt and flour.
  • Beating the yolk mixture, gradually pour on the boiling milk in a thin stream of droplets.
  • Pour into saucepan and set over moderately high heat.
  • Stir with wire whip, reaching all over bottom of pan.
  • As sauce comes to a boil it will get lumpy, but will smooth out as you beat it.
  • When boil is reached, beat over moderately low heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Be careful custard does not scorch in bottom of pan.
  • Remove from heat and beat in the butter, then vanilla. Chill.
  • If the custard is not used immediately, clean it off the sides of the pan, and dot top of custard with softened butter to prevent a skin from forming over the surface.


****

ON THE DAY OF USE:

  • Slice about 2 1/2 bananas to cover the bottom and sides of pie shell.
  • Top with about 1 cup of custard.
  • Slice 2-3 more bananas, to cover custard and sides entirely.
  • Add remaining custard and smooth out the top.
  • Spread with a thin layer of whipped cream.
  • Mark 10 portions with a knife.
  • Slice rest of bananas crosswise into 10, 1/4" thick, long oval shapes and use one slice to cover each portion like "spokes of a wheel".
  • Warm glaze and juice just enough to make it spreadable and glaze each slice of banana lightly to prevent browning.
  • Pipe whip cream rosettes around the edges and sprinkle with the walnuts.