Adventures In Nana Nilla Pudding
Most every southern cook has some version of a banana pudding recipe. They mostly seem to feature a combo of Nilla Wafers, bananas, boxed banana or vanilla pudding, and Cool Whip. Well, I hate Cool Whip. And I generally think one can do better than boxed pudding. So I have my own version, which is quick and easy and sublime. It’s basically Banana Cream Pie in the shape of a trifle.
When I bought the vanilla wafers to make this dish for the blog post, I did see that one could buy mini Nilla Wafers, which I thought would be just excellent. But then I looked at the price. The box of minis was three times the cost of my generic vanilla wafers cookies. I just couldn’t do it. To my palate, the generic wafers taste exactly like Nilla Wafers. I went for frugality.
I made this at my parents’ house, with the official blog photographer on picture duty and the official blog taster watching TV and waiting for a bowl to lick. My mom and I had to make sure the vanilla wafer cookies tasted okay before we started. I mean, what would be the point of any of this if the cookies were no good?
I made the custard first, then set it aside and started to build the trifle in a decorative cut glass dish I inherited from my grandmother. First a layer of cookies, then one third of the custard, then a whole banana sliced up. I feel the need to point out that the bananas need to be quite ripe, in order to give the proper flavor, but not at all mushy. My bananas were the correct ripeness a couple days before I was ready to use them, so I dropped them in the fridge. This discolors the skin but slows the ripening process way down. They were perfect when I was ready for them.
I repeated this layering twice more until I had used up all three bananas and all the custard. There were some cookies left over, which didn’t break anyone’s heart. I covered the dish with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge while I made the whipped cream.
The whipped cream was just 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream, a little powdered sugar, and a little vanilla, whipped into soft peaks. Then I spread it over the top of my pudding mixture and put it back in the fridge. This really needs about an hour in the fridge for the cookies to soften up a little and absorb some of the custard-y goodness.
After dinner, I dished out generous portions for each of us. We all agreed. It tasted exactly like banana cream pie, although it was messy looking, like all trifle are. Absolutely delish. I took the rest home and had it for dessert over the next few days. It was just as good three days later as it was the day I made it.
If you want to be a little fancier, you could build individual trifles for dinner guests. Just put as many layers as you can manage in your serving dishes (small bowls with straight sides are best) and top with whipped cream. Or you could even make a sort of parfait out of it. As long as all four layers are present, it’s hard to go wrong.
Nana Nilla Pudding
Click here for printable PDF of recipe
INGREDIENTS
1 box vanilla wafer cookies
3 ripe but firm bananas
1/3 cup corn starch
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut up into small pieces
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Make the custard first. In a saucepan, whisk together the corn starch, salt, sugar, eggs, and egg yolks. Then whisk in the milk and cream. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens. Remove from heat. Whisk in the vanilla, then the butter. Whisk briskly until the butter is melted and the custard is smooth.
In a large decorative bowl, build the pudding. First, lay down a layer of vanilla wafer cookies. Spread 1/3 of the custard over the cookies, and top with slices of banana. Do this twice more, then cover the dish and place in the refrigerator while you make the whipped cream.
Whip the cream together with the vanilla and powdered sugar until you have soft peaks. Spread over the top of the banana pudding mixture, covering it completely. This is best served after about an hour in the fridge. It will also keep for several days tightly covered in the fridge.
