Banana Cream Pie - A Taste of Yellow

Banana Cream Pie (with apologies for this awful dark picture)

This post is to link in with a blogging event that is going on at the moment A Taste Of Yellow an event to promote cancer awareness, LIVESTRONG Day is on 16th May. I decided to make a Banana Cream Pie for this yellow event.

You are a rare soul if your life has been completely untouched by cancer, in family, friends and colleagues. My only close encounter with the cancer was a few years ago when my Grandma was diagnosed with lung cancer and was given 2 weeks to live, she only survived 5 days. So our experience was very short and hard hitting.

This is another comforting sounding pudding. I can remember seeing on a TV documentary about Elvis, that one of his favourite puddings was banana pudding. So desirable was this pudding that according to ‘Are You Hungry Tonight – Elvis’ Favourite Recipes’ it was made daily at Graceland to make sure the king got his fix if he wanted it! Banana pudding and banana cream Pie seem to me to have a lot in common, they both have a custard, bananas, cream and a flour based part – pastry in the pie and vanilla wafers in the pudding. Sounds like a classic combination to me! Gooey, fruity, creamy, crispy, yummy.

So banana cream pie it was. I made it from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours. I just love this book (in case you hadn’t guessed!) and I have to restrain myself from making something sweet from it everyday (a weight issue, as we would eat too much) – so I’m trying to go with once or twice a week.

I haven’t been this obsessed with a book since Nigella’s Feast was published! But hey, I wouldn’t have the blog title I chose if I wasn’t really obsessed by books. Dorie’s books differ from most of the books I cook from. I don’t think I’ve altered any of her recipes, and I alter so many recipes a bit – just a tinker here and there, but that not a bad thing (well I don’t think anyway) it’s just knowing your own taste and that of your nearest and dearest.

Anyhow, the pie’s base was the good for almost anything pie dough (pastry). Then a vanilla pudding made lovely and warmly spicy with cinnamon and nutmeg, cream whipped with a little sugar and sour cream, folded in at the end and of course the bananas. They were layered: crust, pudding, bananas, pudding, bananas, pudding and cream. Apologies for the picture, I had to take it quite quickly, and although I managed some slice pics, they were just too blurry - believe me when I say this was the best one. BUT it's for such a good cause I really wanted to take part. Now one of these days I’ll have to try the banana pudding too!

Barbara at Winos and Foodies is the host and she will do a round up on the actual day May 16th of all foods yellow. Thank you for hosting a serious edged fun event.