Graces Southern Style Banana Pudding Recipes

SOUTHERN-STYLE BAKED BANANA PUDDING

Steps:

• Separate eggs, placing the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and the yolks into a saucepan.
• Add sugar, salt, and 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour to the yolks. Splash in about 1/4 of the milk and start blending mixture with a whisk. Pour in remaining milk and whisk until smooth.
• Cook and stir mixture over medium heat until hot to the touch, occasionally dipping your finger in to test. Whisk constantly until custard is thick enough to form ribbons.
• Remove custard from heat and add vanilla extract, banana liqueur, and cold butter. Whisk until butter dissolves. Set custard aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Toss banana slices with lemon juice.
• Spread a quarter of the custard over the bottom of a baking dish. Add a single layer of vanilla wafers. Cover with 1/2 of the bananas and spread 1/2 of the remaining custard on top. Add another layer of vanilla wafers, using slightly fewer this time. Top with the remaining bananas and custard. Smooth the top and tap dish against the counter to settle the pudding.
• Add cream of tartar to the egg whites. Beat using the whisk attachment until foamy. Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Spread meringue over the pudding using a soft spatula, creating ridges for contrast.
• Bake in the preheated oven until meringue is nicely browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.

AUTHENTIC SOUTHERN BANANA PUDDING

Steps:

• Place a layer of wafer cookies on the bottom of a large glass bowl. Top with a layer of banana slices. Alternate layers, reserving 10 wafer cookies to crumble for topping.
• Mix sugar, flour, and salt together in a saucepan. Slowly whisk in cream, about 1/4 cup at a time. Add milk and butter. Place pan over medium heat. Stir constantly until custard begins to thicken, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat.
• Place egg yolks in a bowl. Whisk a few tablespoons of warm custard mixture into the egg yolks. Add the egg/custard mixture back to the saucepan. Stir over medium heat until custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract. Remove from heat; allow to cool about 20 minutes.
• Pour mixture slowly over the layers of wafers and bananas. Gently shake bowl so custard seeps to the bottom of the bowl. Crumble the remaining wafer cookies and sprinkle over the top.

SOUTHERN BANANA PUDDING RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Separate 3 eggs, set the whites aside for later use in the meringue.
• Add 3 cups of milk to a medium saucepan. Place over LOW heat on your stovetop.
• Slowly add flour, whisking continually to avoid lumps.
• Slowly stir in 1/2 cup of sugar, whisking continually until fully dissolved.
• Use a fork and break up the egg yolks.
• Slowly add the egg yolks to the saucepan, whisking continually to avoid making scrambled eggs. It's very important to stay with the cooking process at this point. Keep stirring.
• Increase the heat gradually up to about medium as you constantly whisk the pudding mixture.
• Using a candy thermometer, bring the mixture up to 170 degrees. Continue to stir it constantly as it thickens. When it reaches 170 degrees, remove from heat but continue to stir.
• Add the teaspoon of Vanilla Extract and continue to stir off and on as it cools down. The mixture must cool down before you begin to assemble the banana pudding.
• When fairly cool, spread a light layer of the pudding in a casserole dish.
• Add a layer of Vanilla Wafers. Reserve about 5 or 6 wafers for topping later.
• Add a layer of sliced bananas.
• Add a layer of pudding mixture, spreading it out to the edges of the dish.
• Repeat the layer process as needed, ending with a layer of the pudding mixture on top.
• Crumble the 5 or 6 reserved wafers and sprinkle on top. If not adding the meringue, bake this at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. Let cool and serve. Hopefully you'll try the meringue.