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Every once in a while you meet someone who is the exact person you need in your life. Positive, supportive and funny. Those are just a few adjectives I could use to describe my co-worker and friend Betsy. We are about the same age (except she is older ???? and she gets all of my references to 80’s hair, scrunchies and tight rolled jeans. We grew up about 50 miles apart but it’s like I have known her forever instead of almost 7 years.
Every year for her birthday I make her a dessert that we eat at lunch with our grade level, etc. I have made :
Strawberry Bars
Chocolate and Banana Cream Pie
But this year I wanted to make an old favorite of hers so I made a classic Banana Cream Pie. I didn’t make my own crust because I was short on time, but the custard filling is a tweaked verion of Ellie Krieger’s original healthy recipe that cuts the fat and makes me feel just a bit less guilty for enjoying a slice. Of course I had to change it a bit because as much as I loved her recipe it just needed a bit of something more, in my opinion.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
- 3 tablespoons boiling water
- 1/3 cup, plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar (for whipped cream)
- 1 TB brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups 1 percent lowfat milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups sliced banana (3 medium bananas)
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Set out a prepared pie shell/crust.
- Put the gelatin in a small bowl, add 3 tablespoons of boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved.
- Set Aside.
- In a saucepan,whisk together 1/3 cup of sugar, brown sugar and the flour.
- In a bowl lightly beat the milk and eggs together.
- Add the egg and milk mixture to the saucepan and whisk so the flour and sugar dissolve.
- Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes,until mixture comes to a light boil and has thickened.
- Stir in the vanilla extract and gelatin.
- Remove from heat to cool slightly.
- Arrange the sliced bananas on the crust and pour the pudding on top.
- Place in the refrigerator until the pudding has set, about 3 hours.
- Do not place plastic on the top of this pudding.
- Chill uncovered.
- Whip the cream with a mixer.
- When it is about halfway done, add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, then continue whipping until fully whipped.
- Smooth on top of pie or decorate as you like.
