April 10, 2009

“Set the House on Fire” Banana Cream Pie (recipe)

I can scarcely believe that this post is so so late! It’s been ‘one of those weeks’ for quite some time now. And though I should be grateful for all the activity, I’m definitely becoming a bit worn and longing for a little tranquility. As a result of all the to and fro going on right now I only made this pie the day before it was due, and now I’m finally writing it up (3 days after it was due). Tsk tsk tsk.

From start to finish this recipe was a relative ease. I say relative because there was this pesky little moment when I almost set the house on fire (hence the title). But more on that later!

To begin I whipped up what now have to be my favourite custard and pie crust recipes. I will definitely be using these again. This custard in particular was sublime. Incorporating butter, vanilla and cornstarch, it’s not ‘eggy’ in taste at all. It’s so delicate and velvety I had to refrain from ‘sampling’ the whole pot 😉 I see myself making this custard again for puddings and trifles galore!

The pie crust as well was a joy. Buttery and silky in texture I could tell it would be flaky and rich in flavour. Unfortunately I didn’t factor for the high butter content, and when covering the top with foil (for blind baking) i didn’t firmly wrap the foil over and over the edges. As a result, as it baked, pieces of the edge began to soften and fall over the edge, and because of the amount of oil promptly caught on fire around the heating element!

Fortunately my nose detected the smell of smoke relatively quickly and I ran into the kitchen in time. Of course as I saw the flames growing larger I momentarily panicked, but that was immediately overidden by my logical side. I unplugged the stove, grabbed a bag of salt and started throwing handfuls in until everything had been put out.

Oy vey!

Fortunately, except for a few singed edges the pie crust was pretty much done, and I decided to leave it as is.

After everything had cooled it was time to layer the bananas and custard. This all came together easily, as did the whipped cream topping. Because I don’t like the feel of banana chunks I sliced the fruit into the thinnest of slivers. This ensured that it melded evenly with the custard, creating a resistance-free flavour infusion. At this point it was easy to forget the drama that had unfolded less than an hour later. And when I took my first taste, it was enough to make me want to court a million more fires just for another chance at this sublime slip of heaven 😀 MMM MMM MMM!