End of summer?!!! Say it ain’t so. Yes, I know technically speaking, we have a few weeks to go before the summer ends, but while some of your are still basking or sweating in the dog days of summer, my kids have just sulkily dragged their heels to school this week; frowns on their faces, backpacks weighing them down as a literal weight has been placed on their shoulders.

What a blow to the chipper, laid back sunny days when we didn’t have a care in the world. Back to homework, schedules, sack lunches and most of all, back to dragging their sleepy butts out of bed at the crack of dawn and hoisting ourselves out the door to take on the hectic day.

It is what it is and this banana cream pie, which we still have four slices of after our family Sunday Dinner, is awaiting the red headed one to clear away her woes. I can’t think of a better way to shake off the first day of school blahs then to put spoonful after spoonful of this creamy, luscious Banana Cream Pie into your mouth bite after dreamy bite.

We ooh’d and aaah’d at dessert time last night as we shovelled the vanilla custard laced with banana slices into our mouths. If you have been craving an old fashioned Banana Cream Pie, then look no further my friends. This one is IT. The one to make and the one to eat devour.  If you want to use your favorite store bought crust, I say have at it because then this will be fairly simple.

OR if you want to make your own delectably crisp, flaky and just a bit tender perfect pie crust then go here and the step-by-step instructions will take you through the how-to. Just for the record, I know this wasn’t the prettiest pie you’ve ever seen, but honestly, it was the tastiest pie. If you want to see one of my picture perfect pies take a peek at my Chocolate Haupia Pie. I do have it in me to make camera worthy pies, but sometimes I am just in too darn a hurry to eat what I make to bother myself with beautiful.

Oh…and my daughter had this magnificently fabulous idea of what to do with the left over couple inches of crust I had.  She made a gorgeous individual banana cream pie tartlet. Wouldn’t these be the most adorable little desserts for a cocktail party or wedding shower?  Now SHE made hers camera worthy…wouldn’t ya say?

Banana Cream Pie
Changed by one additonal egg from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.
Vanilla Pudding Filling
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
3 c. whole milk (I used 2% and it was magnificent)
5 egg yolks (make meringue cookies or pavlovas with the whites!)
1 T. butter
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
Baked Pastry Shell

To Make It Banana Cream Pie…
2 bananas sliced
1 pint of heavy whipping cream and 4-6 T. sugar.

To Make them Tartlets…see directions at the bottom of this recipe.

If you are making your own crust, do that first, bake it according to directions for a pre-baked pie shell, and let it cool to almost room temperature before putting your filling in.

For the Vanilla Pudding Filling: In a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually, stir in milk.  Whisk until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat till mixture is thickened and bubbly. I stir almost constantly with a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom and sides and prevent them from burning. Reduce heat once it’s bubbly and thicker, cook and stir for two minutes more.  Remove from heat.

Separate egg yolks from whites.  Beat egg yolks lightly with a fork. Gradually stir 1 cup of the hot filling into the yolks so as not to curdle the eggs.  Return the mixture to the saucepan; bring to a very gentle boil over medium to medium high heat.  Stir in butter and vanilla.  Bring filling to room temperature naturally or for a quick way…put the filling in a small mixing bowl and then place ice in a larger mixing bowl.  Pour some water in the large bowl (about a cup or two) so you get mostly ice with some water.  Place your small bowl into your larger icy bowl and this will cool your pudding quickly.

While pudding is cooling, slice two bananas on the bottom of your crust. See? Actually, I decided one row wasn’t enough and went for two rows of sliced bananas but didn’t get a snap of that. I really recommend the two layers of banana slices…it gives you a lot more banana bang for your buck…hence the two bananas in my list of ingredients.

Pour your cooled filling over the bananas.  Make your whipped cream by pouring the heavy whipping cream into a bowl of a stand mixer or into a mixing bowl. First beat on medium for a couple of seconds (with the balloon whisk or beaters) and then turn to high. As soft peaks form add a tablespoon of sugar at a time. I usually add 4-6.  Taste it at 4 . You may like a lightly sweet whipped cream.  If you like it sweeter, taste it after 5 T and add one or two more if you still want it sweeter.

Top the pie with the whipped cream by either spreading it with a rubber spatula OR make it pretty and pipe it with a large piping tip such as a star tip. The largest tips work the best for whipped cream.  Enjoy your creamy, dreamy Banana Cream Pie!

To Make the Tartlets:

Roll your unbaked pie dough into a rectangle and cut into 2 inch high rectangles using a pizza cutter. Then cut each into 2×2 squares.  Push each square into a space of a mini muffin pan, pushing down in the middle so the sides flare a bit. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.  Place one slice of banana on the bottom of each tart shell and then top with a spoonful of the filling. Squirt a little bit of Redi-Whip on top and place a slice banana atop when ready to serve.  I have a few photographs of my apple tartlet appetizer here if you want to take a look at the how-to for the dough.