banana pudding

the idea of banana pudding or pudding in general isn't that appealing to me. but on one fateful night, me and banana pudding found each other. see, a couple of friends and i decided that we were going to start trying to save some money. rather than catching up over dinner out, we decided to cook. in an effort to save as much money as possible we decided on a theme: white trash dinner. our menu consisted of pigs in a blanket, tuna casserole and banana pudding. 

i wasn't anticipating anything great but somehow by the end of that night i fell in love with banana pudding. it wasn't your traditional white trash version though. i couldn't bring myself to simply buy a box of j-e-ll-o pudding topped with sliced 'nanas and nillas, so i searched online for a way to make a great homemade banana pudding. it turned out to be addicting! 

banana pudding

ingredients:

- 7 bananas

- 1 1/2 c sugar

- 8 large egg yolks

- 6 tbs cornstarch

- 6 c half and half

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 3 tbs butter

- 1 tbs vanilla extract

- 3 tbs lemon juice

- 1 box Nilla wafers

directions:

1. preheat oven to 325 degrees with oven rack in the middle of oven

2. place 4 bananas on a baking sheet and roast until completely black (about 20 mins)

3. while the bananas are roasting, whisk cornstarch, 1/2 c sugar and egg yolks in a bowl until smooth

4. over medium heat, in a large pot bring half and half, remaining sugar and salt to a simmer

5. once at a simmer, whisk in half of the mixture in with the egg yolk mixture. make sure to whisk continuously so that the egg doesn't scramble.

6. whisk in the new egg yolk mixture back into the pot

7. cook, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens and starts to bubble (about 3 minutes)

8. remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla

9. transfer half of the pudding, half of the roasted bananas and half of the lemon juice into a blender and blend until smooth. 

10. pour mixture into a 10x13 glass pan. repeat #9 &#10 with the other half of pudding and roasted bananas

11. cover with plastic wrap so that it is directly touching the pudding (this prevents that disgusting pudding skin)

12. place in fridge until cool (approx 1 1/2 hrs minimum)

13. insert Nilla wafers in however you'd like. 

14. serve with the remainder of your bananas sliced and whipped cream.

*you can easily make this a trifle or put them in individual cups. you can also layer the bottom of the glass pan with nilla wafers. it doesn't really matter. so long as all of the ingredients are there, it's incredibly delicious!!!