- 6
Ingredients
- 1 ⁄3 cup cornstarch
- 3 cups whole milk
- 8 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 3 ⁄4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 inch of vanilla bean, split lengthwise in half
- 4 to 6 bananas, ripened but not bruised or blemished, sliced
- 24 About 24 ladyfingers, boudoir biscuits, or savoiardi
- 1 cup heavy cream
Preparation
Step 1
1. To make pudding, place cornstarch in heatproof bowl. Stir in 1⁄2 cup milk until evenly blended. Whisk in egg yolks.
2. Combine remaining 21⁄2 cups milk and 3⁄4 cup sugar in heavy medium saucepan. With tip of knife, scrape vanilla seeds into pan; toss in pod as well. Bring to boil over medium heat; immediately reduce heat to low.
3. Slowly whisk about half of hot milk into egg yolk mixture to warm it. Then whisk hot egg mixture into remaining milk in slow, steady stream. Continue to cook, whisking, until pudding comes to gentle boil. Boil for a minute, remove vanilla pod, remove from heat, and scrape into bowl. Press sheet of plastic wrap directly onto top of pudding to prevent skin from forming; refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or overnight.
4. To assemble dessert, spread thin layer of chilled pudding in trifle dish or other deep glass or ceramic bowl. Top with layer of overlapping banana slices and then layer of ladyfingers. Cover with half of remaining pudding, another layer of bananas, reserving a few slices for garnish, and then rest of ladyfingers, reserving 2 or 3 for garnish. Top with remaining pudding. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to a day in advance before serving so cookies soften completely.
5. Shortly before serving, whip cream and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in chilled bowl with chilled beaters until soft peaks form. Top banana pudding with dollops of whipped cream, a sprinkling of reserved ladyfingers, crumbled, and a few slices of banana.