Alton Brown's Refrigerated Banana Pudding

Banana pudding is a long time favorite of mine, being one of the dishes my mom made a lot when I was a child. Since it was a sample in my family and most everyone else I knew, it was, in uncertain terms, as Southern a dish as collar greens and cornbread. But imagine my surprise when Alton Brown delved into the history of this dish in the "Yes We Have No Banana Pudding" episode of Good Eats and told us the version I knew as a child, the one taught to my mom by her grandmother was, in fact, not the Southern variation of the dish.

Huh?

While I normally trust AB on his info, I would like to ask him what could be the issue as to why this dyed-in-the-wool Appalachian mountain girl's family makes the Yankee version? Being in the heart of Appalachia, our food is traditionally in line with other classic Southern dishes. So it quite the puzzler... well for me it is! I surmise being not so far from the Mason-Dixon Line, we may have more Yankee influences than we care to admit. That, or the fact that the great-grandmother I mentioned who taught my mom the dish had a strong Pennsylvania Dutch lineage.

Who knows. What I do know is that Yankee or not, the cold application was the one I wanted to try.

The quest to make the dessert started with locating a one teaspoon cookie disher needed to create the small wafers. Well, I searched all of the stores in my area to no avail. But, finally located a 1.5 teaspoon cookie scoop on Amazon.com. Close enough.

With a reasonably sized scoop, I ventured to make the vanilla wafer critical to the application.

Although I've been cooking for a long time, it still surprises my how simple it is to make things we so often buy. I would have never thought of making my own vanilla wafers. Other cookies, yeah I will make, but for some reason I never gave these little cookies a second thought. Maybe it was their size that tricked me.

Anyway, the cookies are nothing short of spectacular. While I didn't have the vanilla sugar AB said to use, I couldn't imagine them being much better. In making them twice, I strongly recommend that you flatten the cookie balls thoroughly. My first batch came out a bit domed because I only lightly mashed the dough. The next batch looked just like wafers because I flattened the heck out of them.

I also used 1.5 oz of white table sugar and 1/4 cup of Splenda in the wafers. Since Splenda is airy and hard to portion via weigh, I opted for the 1/4 cup figuring is was 2 oz. It worked well for the creaming.

Vanilla Wafers

Ingredients

* 7 ounces all-purpose flour

* 3/4 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder

* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

* 4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

* 3 1/2 ounces vanilla sugar

* 1 large egg

* 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

* 1 tablespoon whole milk

Directions

Position 1 oven rack in the top third of the oven and another in the bottom third. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and vanilla sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl after 1 minute. Add the egg and incorporate on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl. Add the vanilla extract and milk and blend on low speed for 15 seconds. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just to incorporate. Chill the batter in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes before scooping.

Scoop the batter in teaspoon-sized balls and arrange them on 2 parchment paper-lined half sheet pans, approximately 35 cookies per pan. Use the heel of your hand to slightly flatten each ball. Bake, 2 pans at a time, rotating the pans halfway through the baking, until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pans to a cooling rack to cool completely before removing the cookies from the pan.

After the wafer phased was completed, I turned to the pudding phase. I've made a lot of pudding fillings over the years and this looked to be a simple, straightforward method. It was. Again, I opted to use Splenda in the pudding. Since the thickener was cornstarch I surmised it wouldn't be gain much from the sugar in the way of thickening up. Changing out the sugar didn't effect the final texture at all.

I skipped the part about the banana liqueur because, mainly, I like the cookies when they are a bit soft. And second I didn't know where to find it. I discovered these cookies hold up well despite not using the liqueur. In fact, the were not soft or mushy at all after sitting overnight. For the whipped cream topping, I had to add it to my individual serving because my mom doesn't like whipped cream. Still used the whipped cream method in the application, but again, swapped the sugar for Splenda. (My goodness this is sounding like a promo for them, they are not paying me, honestly! I use a lot of it because my mom diabetic.)

Refrigerated Banana Pudding

Ingredients

* 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
* 3 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
* 2 large eggs
* 1 large egg yolk
* 2 cups whole milk
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces and chilled
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 45 vanilla wafers
* 4 ounces banana liqueur
* 3 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
* 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
* 1 cup heavy whipping cream, very cold

Directions

Combine 3/4 cup of the sugar, the cornstarch and salt in a 3-quart saucier. Add the eggs and egg yolk and whisk to combine. Add the milk and whisk until well combined, about 30 seconds. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 172 to 180 degrees F, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. The mixture will begin to

thicken and bubble around the edges. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, 1 piece at a time, being sure each piece is fully incorporated before adding the next. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Cover the surface of the pudding with a round piece of parchment and refrigerate until the pudding reaches 45 degrees F, approximately 2 hours.

Lay the vanilla wafers on a half sheet pan. Slowly and evenly pour the banana liqueur over the cookies. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Toss the banana slices with the lemon juice in a small bowl and set aside.

Spread a small amount of pudding in the bottom of a 1 1/2-quart glass mixing bowl. Cover with a layer of vanilla wafers, followed by a layer of banana slices. Spoon 1/3 of the remaining pudding on top of the bananas and repeat, ending with a layer of pudding.

Put the whipping cream in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and whisk just until stiff peaks form. Spoon the whipped cream over the cooled pudding and spread to cover completely. Top with any remaining soaked cookies. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

The verdict on the dessert is 100% outstanding. The cookies are more flavorful than pre-made and pudding is rich, creamy and smooth. Whether or not it is the Southern variation, the cold whipped cream, pudding and bananas are heavenly together. The only critique my mom made was to add more bananas, so next time I will go with four.