Delicious homemade banana pudding that's made from scratch, using banana infused milk! No instant pudding and no condensed milk. Guaranteed to be the best banana pudding you've ever had! INTERMEDIATE - The recipe itself is easy, but has several components. But each component is easy on its own, but may need some planning ahead of time. US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements. Common Measurement Conversions. Weight measurements are recommended for accurate results.There is at least one overnight chilling step in this recipe.
300 - 400gbananasabout 3 - 4 bananas, see recipe notes
Banana pastry cream
2 ½cupsbanana milksee above
3egg yolksfrom large eggs
1egg
60gcornstarchabout 6 - 7 US tablespoons
150gwhite sugar¾ cup, see recipe notes
½tspfine sea salt
1tbspvanilla extract
57gbutter½ stick / ¼ cup
Stabilized whipped cream (to make diplomat cream)
1 ½cupsheavy cream
1tspgelatinoptional
1tbspwaterroom temperature, optional
To assemble
340gNilla wafersabout 12 oz, see recipe notes
3 - 4ripe bananasjust ripe and firm bananas are best
To decorate
Extra whipped cream
Nilla wafers
Sliced bananas
Instructions
Banana milk
Place the milk in a saucepan. Slice the bananas into the milk.
3 cups milk, 300 - 400 g bananas
Heat the milk and banana mix over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the milk from burning.
Heat until the milk starts to steam or simmer. Do not let it come to a full boil.
Remove the milk from the heat and let it cool down slightly.
Transfer to the fridge and let the bananas infuse the milk for at least 4 hours, or up to 12 hours.
Strain the banana milk mixture, without pressing the banana pieces through the sieve. You only want the milk portion. To make sure you get all the milk, allow the strainer to sit over the milk for awhile to drain all of the milk. You should get 2 ½ cups of milk. If not, just top it with some milk to get 2 ½ cups.
Banana pastry cream
Place the 2 ½ cups banana milk in a saucepan. Heat until the milk mixture is steaming.
2 ½ cups banana milk
While the milk is heating, place the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, salt, cornstarch, and vanilla in a bowl. Whisk until you have a smooth mixture.
3 egg yolks, 1 egg, 60 g cornstarch, 150 g white sugar, ½ tsp fine sea salt, 1 tbsp vanilla extract
When the milk is heated, pour about 1 cup of the hot milk in a thin stream into the egg mixture, while constantly whisking the egg mixture. This is to temper the eggs.
The tempered egg mixture should now be at least warm. Gently pour it back into the remaining hot milk mixture in the saucepan while whisking the milk mixture constantly.
Return the banana milk custard mix back to the stove, and cook over medium or medium-low heat until thickened. Make sure to whisk frequently to prevent curdling, but also check if the mixture is coming to a boil.
When the mixture comes to a boil (bubbles break the surface), lower the heat of the stove and whisk for a further minute.
Remove the custard base from the heat and add the butter. Whisk it in until the butter is emulsified.
57 g butter
Place the custard in a bowl (or shallow dish) and cover the custard with plastic wrap. Make sure to press the plastic wrap onto the surface of the custard and cover the whole surface to prevent a skin from forming on top.
Allow the custard to chill in the fridge. A large, shallow dish will chill the pastry cream faster. This can take 4 hours (depending on the dish), or up to 8 hours.
Once the custard is chilled, remove it from the fridge and whisk it until smooth. Now the custard is ready to be mixed with the whipped cream.
Banana diplomat cream (pudding base)
When the custard is chilled, make the stabilized whipped cream.
Place the chilled whipping cream (heavy cream) in a chilled metal bowl (of your mixer).
1 ½ cups heavy cream
Place the water in a small microwaveable bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin and stir it in. Allow the gelatin to bloom in the water for about 10 minutes.
1 tsp gelatin, 1 tbsp water
Microwave the bloomed gelatin for about 10 - 20 seconds to dissolve the gelatin. But DO NOT let it boil.
Stir in about 1 tbsp of the chilled heavy cream to temper the gelatin mixture.
Start whisking the heavy cream and pour in the gelatin mixture. Make sure the gelatin isn’t poured directly onto the whisks, since this will cause the gelatin to set and forms clumps.
Whisk the heavy cream on high for a few seconds to incorporate the gelatin.
Once the gelatin is incorporated, lower the speed to medium high, and whisk the cream until it's just starting to form stiff peaks. Make sure to NOT let the heavy cream curdle / become grainy.
Fold in about ⅓ of the whipped cream into the banana flavored custard. Once mixed well, either fold the rest of the whipped cream into the custard, or fold the custard into the remaining whipped cream in the mixer bowl. Either way is fine. Now the pudding base is ready.
To assemble the banana pudding
Choose the dish you'll be serving the banana pudding in. I used an 8 - 9 inch trifle bowl here, but a large casserole dish (about 9 x 9 inch square or slightly rectangular) will work as well.
You can create as many layers as you like, depending on how thinly you spread the pudding base layer. Start with the pudding base, and have enough to top the dessert as the final layer.
Spread a layer of the banana pudding base at the bottom of your dish. Top it with a layer of Nilla wafers, followed by sliced bananas (about ½ cm thick). I like to slice the bananas only as I layer them, and not ahead of time (to prevent browning).
340 g Nilla wafers, 3 - 4 ripe bananas
Break some Nilla wafers in half and layer them against the wall of the dish (IF you’re serving this in a glass container). This is optional and purely for aesthetics.
Spread a layer of the banana pudding base on top of the bananas. Make sure the bananas are completely covered with the pudding. Banana slices that are exposed to air will brown quickly.
Repeat the layers until you have used up all of the banana pudding base, while making sure the final layer on top is also the pudding.
Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
To decorate
Top the pudding with whipped cream (optional). You can either pipe it along the edge or spread a layer of whipped cream on top.
Extra whipped cream
Decorate with whole or crushed Nilla wafers.
Nilla wafers
You can also decorate with more banana slices, but make sure to do this just before serving (to prevent browning).
Sliced bananas
Notes
Note about bananas
You'll need 300 - 400 g of bananas. If you’re infusing the milk for a longer time, you can use 300 g bananas (about 3 bananas). If you’re infusing the milk for a shorter amount of time, then I recommend using 400 g (about 4 bananas).
Note about sugar
This recipe is less sweet than the classic Magnolia Bakery banana pudding. If you want this to be sweeter, then I recommend using 200 - 225 g sugar (1 - 1 ¼ cups).
Note about Nilla wafers
You will need about 340 g / 12 oz. You may not use all of it, depending on the size of the serving dish and number of layers in your pudding. If you cannot find Nilla wafers, use savoiardi / ladyfinger biscuits (cookies).
To chill the pastry cream faster
Place the banana pastry cream in a large, shallow dish - I like to use a quarter sheet pan. Spread it evenly in the dish and cover it with plastic wrap. Then place it in the freezer for about 3 - 4 hours to cool it down faster. DO NOT let it freeze overnight, so check on it every hour to make sure it's not freezing.