Here is a dessert that is made in heaven. It is Homemade Banana Pudding. If you haven’t figured it out by now in class I am teaching a unit on eggs and dairy products. This is our Swan Song. So we are learning the in’s and out’s of making a creamy pudding as well as a beautiful meringue.
First order of business is learning to separate eggs. This takes a bit of practice. For that reason I purchased a few dozen eggs to have on hand for the mistakes!
Next, some of my students even after watching me all semester will refuse to measure flour correctly. I would use a scale in class, but that would be so impractical. Very few of them have one to use at home. I pulled out my portable electric hand mixer today and many were amazed and said “We do not have one of those at our house.” It is not that they can’t afford one. Most families just do not do much cooking! SAD and I am doing my best to change that.
Last of all, making meringue can be tricky, even for a seasoned cook. So this demo was packed with a lot of information to absorb in one class period. It will be quite interesting to see the results tomorrow. I hope that I will be pleasantly surprised.
The recipe of choice appears on the box of Nabisco Nilla Wafers. The link for it is at the bottom of the post. This recipe has been around since Nilla Wafers. You cannot go wrong with this dessert. We did debate today which was best to eat the pudding while warm or to refrigerate and enjoy later. I personally like it warm, but that’s just me. Also I prefer to use canned pineapple instead of bananas. Yea, I know that’s crazy!
Using a double boiler (if you do not have one put a heat resistant dish or a metal mixing bowl over boiling water and it will work the same) mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup of all purpose flour, dash of salt, 3 egg yolks and 2 cups of milk. Stir this constantly with a wire whisk until smooth and thickened. Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. This is how it should look.
To separate eggs easily they should be cold not room temperature. Put each egg white in a custard cup then put in a mixing bowl with high sides. Do not use a plastic mixing bowl. Plastic holds fat and in turn will inhibit the egg white from beating. If you get ANY egg yolk in the egg white throw all of it out. Egg yolk contains fat and also will inhibit the egg white from foaming. If you are not good at separating the egg using the shells buy an egg separator.
Once you have the eggs separated the yolks go in the pudding. While the pudding is thickening let the whites come to room temperature and this will produce more volume.
Follow the instructions for layering with wafers, bananas and pudding.
Now it is time to beat the meringue. Using a high-speed on your mixer beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. This means when the beaters are lifted the peaks will fall over. DO NOT add the 1/4 cup of sugar until the meringue is at the soft peak stage. When it has reached this stage start adding the sugar a little at the time. It will be shiny and glossy. Put a little meringue between your fingers. If you do not feel any sugar crystals and when pulling the beaters out the foam peak will stand up straight it is ready. Don’t get carried away and beat this stuff too long. It will collapse and look like you have a bowl of cottage cheese. Not a good thing! Here is what it looks like when ready to top the banana pudding.
Now spread the meringue on top of the layers. Using the backside of a large metal spoon produces swirls. Try not to make little peaks all over the top. They will look like little brown tree trunks. Not a pretty site.
Here is the pudding layered and ready for the meringue.
Top with meringue.
These are raw eggs which means before serving the pudding should be baked at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until beautifully browned.
Doesn’t this make you want to just dig in with spoon?
Here’s what one of my students did with the sample that I gave out in class.
Here is the link for the recipe from Nabisco.
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Happy Cooking,
The Teacher Cooks
The Teacher Cooks 
There is nothing better than real, homemade banana pudding! This looks wonderful, and I’m sure your students loved it!
i want to swim in this pudding. forever.
maybe eventually i’d eat my way out.
this looks amazing!
I adore homemade banana pudding! This makes my mouth water.
Your banana pudding looks amazing and what a great lesson on making a meringue.
i’ll confess–i make the pudding mix/cool whip type of banana pudding and love it so, but your batch here is much more decadent and alluring. excellent post!
No question, this is comfort food at it’s best. I did a post on it a while back and then Gypsy Chef did her version of my recipe in adorable little soup bowls. I love having bloggers (or students) take a recipe and reinvent it.
And I love the final photo. Clever student!
It is very sad that people do cook at home as much as they should. There’s nothing better than a home cooked meal in my opinion. Banana pudding is my husband favorite I will have to store this recipe for this summer. Thanks
That sounds awesome! Banana pudding is a fav of mine, although the one time I tried to make it, it was a huge fail.
i learned that meringue was made of only egg whites.
I learned if you get egg yolk in whith the egg white, the meringue won’t fluff up. (:
this was great. i never knew how to make it. it was fun putting it together. i learned that when you whip egg whites you make meringue.
i learned that egg whites beaten becomes meringue … and it might look like whip cream but its not so dont taste it 🙂
I learned that when making meringue, you need to bake it to prevent salmonella.
I love the fact that now i can make banana pudding at Thanksgiving. Yay:)……i learned that meringue is very easy to make with just egg whites & sugar. Now i can make it with my Apple Pie!:)
Yum!
It’s not good to use a plastic mixing bowl because it holds fat.
i learned then you pull the beaters out and the foam stands up straight then its ready.
You really have to be careful with your measurements or it wouldn’t become good.
i learned while making the meringue for the banana pudding that you have to add in the sugar gradually while beating
I learned that to determine if your sugar is dissolved you rub some of the meringue between your fingers. If you do not feel any grains it is dissolved.
when whisking slowly keep on adding milk don’t put all your milk in the same time
It is important to put the right amount of toppings in each layer so that it taste right.
Make sure to put the right amount of custard or the pudding wont taste as good.