This pie did not go as planned. Just about everything that could go wrong, did. I mixed the gelatin in at the wrong point. The meringue didn't whip up properly. I had to ditch the whole batch and start over again. I ended up making a French meringue rather than the Swiss one called for in the recipe. And then, because the French meringue is uncooked, I had to try to bake it in the oven rather that giving it a quick blast under the broiler to brown it. On top of that, I ended up baking it to at too high a temperature which then required me to take it out before the meringue had fully set. And heating the pie back up caused filling to liquefy, so then I had to toss it back in the fridge to try to get it to set again. By the time I'd reached the end of the whole process and managed to assemble the pie, I felt like it was cursed.

Even with all that, this pie was amazing! Seriously, so delicious. I can't even imagine what it would've been like if I'd managed to do it right. Definitely one to try again.

Banana Pudding Pie

Adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2020

Ingredients

Crust

Original Recipe

• 4 c. Nilla Wafer cookies
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Lazy Way

• 1 ready-made graham cracker pie crust

Filling

• 2 tsp. unflavoured gelatin
• 1 3/4 c. half-and-half (10% cream), divided
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 5 large egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• pinch ground cinnamon
• pinch ground allspice
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 2 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced

Meringue

Swiss Meringue¹

• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 4 large egg whites
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

French Meringue

• 4 large egg whites
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 c. sugar

Directions

Crust

Original Recipe

1. Pulse cooies, sugar, flour, and salt in food processor for ~10 pulses.
2. Add melted butter and pulse until combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
3. Transfer to 9" pie plate and use your hands to press the crumbs firmly up the sides of the plate. The walls should be at least 5mm thick and go all the way up to the top edge of the plate.
4. Press the remaining crumbs into an even layer on the bottom of the plate. Be sure to firmly press into the corners.
5. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for 18-20 minutes.
6. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Lazy Way

1. No prep needed. Crust is ready to use.

Filling

1. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 c. of the half-and-half and set aside.
2. Whisk sugar, egg yolks, flour, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and remaining 1 1/4 c. half-and-half until fully combined.
3. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly and scraping corners, until mixture thickens (5-7 minutes).
4. Remove from heat and whisk in butter, vanilla, and gelatin mixture.
5. Stir bananas into hot filling.
6. Pour filling into crust.
7. Cover and chill for 4-24 hours.

Meringue

Swiss Meringue

1. Whisk all ingredients together in a heatproof bowl.
2. Place bowl over saucepan filled with a couple inches of boiling water.
3. Whisking gently but constantly, cook until mixture reaches 71-73°C (160-165°F). This should take ~8 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and whisk on high speed until meringue forms stiff peaks (2-3 minutes).
5. Uncover pie and spread meringue over filling. Make sure to spread it all the way to the edges.
6. Heat broiler and broil until meringue is well-browned (1-2 minutes).

French Meringue

1. Combine egg whites and cream of tartar and beat until frothy.
2. Add sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time while continuing to beat on high speed.
3. Continue beating until stiff peaks are formed.
4. Uncover pie and spread meringue over filling. Make sure to spread it all the way to the edges.
5. Bake at ?? for ??. I tried baking it at 450°F (230°C), but had to take it out after only 8 minutes as the top had become excessively brown and was in danger of burning. I'll try 400°F (200deg;C) next time and see how that goes.

---

¹ The original recipe calls for 2/3 c. sugar total (1/3 c. granulated, 1/3 c. brown). This did NOT work at all for me. I don't know if the problem was too much sugar or something else, but it certainly seemed like A LOT of sugar for the amount egg and the mixture was thick and sticky and syrupy, almost like molasses. I didn't want to try the Swiss meringue again after one failed attempt, so I just whipped up a quick French meringue since they're reliable and I've never had one fail. If I were going to try the Swiss meringue again, I'd start by adding less sugar and see if that helped at all. Hence the reduced sugar quantities above. ^Back