Banana Pudding with Homemade Custard
A classic recipe for banana pudding, with layers of cookies, homemade vanilla bean custard, sliced bananas, and whipped cream.
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Equipment
- Serving Dish (minimum 6-cup capacity)
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
Vanilla Custard
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp corn starch
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 3 large egg yolks (save the whites for another use)
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
Whipped Cream
- 1 ¼ cups cold heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
Other
- 3 ripe (not brown) bananas
- 1 package (11 oz) vanilla wafer cookies (see notes)
Instructions
Vanilla Custard
- In a saucepan, whisk together the sugar, corn starch and salt.
- Whisk in the egg yolks until smooth, then gradually whisk in the milk, cream, and vanilla bean paste.
- Cook the custard over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the custard begins to thicken and bubble - this should take about 8-10 minutes. Once it begins to bubble, continue to cook for 1 full minute while whisking.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.
- Lastly, strain the custard to remove any bits of cooked egg. Set a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and press the custard through the strainer.
- Cover the custard, with plastic wrap resting right against the surface of the custard, and refrigerate for one hour, before assembling the pudding.
Assembly
- With an electric mixer (either stand or hand held), whip the cold heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar until fluffy peaks form that hold their shape.
- Get a serving dish that has at least a 6-cup capacity, but 2 quarts would be best.
- Arrange a layer of cookies on the bottom of the dish. Spread half the custard over the cookies. Peel and slice the bananas, and arrange half the banana slices over the custard. Spread half the whipped cream over the bananas.
- Repeat again, with layers of cookies, custard, bananas, and whipped cream.
- Finish by decorating the top with a few crushed cookies.
- Before serving, refrigerate the pudding for at least 4 hours, until the cookies have started to soften.
Notes
- I used homemade brown sugar shortbread cookies, which I liked in this pudding, but I do prefer the texture and classic flavor of "nilla" wafers. You can also use graham crackers, biscoff cookies, or even golden Oreos (without the cream filling). If you don't want whole pieces of cookie in your pudding, you can crush or crumble the cookies first.
- Banana pudding is best eaten within 1-2 days, before the bananas start to turn brown.
- Other optional add-ins to layer into your pudding are toffee bits, salted caramel sauce, or chopped chocolate.
- To fill a large trifle dish with a 4-quart capacity, you can double this recipe.
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