Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Ganache & Salted Caramel Sauce
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Ganache & Salted Caramel Sauce
I’ve been dreaming of banana cream pie ever since I had a taste of Melissa Chou’s (Aziza) deconstructed version inspired by The Essential New York Times Cookbook. I thoroughly enjoyed Chou’s elegant take on the dessert, but I had a hankering for something a little homier.
I had visions of a pretty Southern belle of a pie, with little flair, of course. A classic golden graham cracker crust coated with dark chocolate ganache, sweet bananas, thick vanilla-specked pastry cream, and pillows of soft whipped cream swirled with salted caramel.
Mmm…I could almost taste it already.
Graham cracker crust and Chocolate ganache
To start, I got my crust in order. Honey Maid made it even easier than usual with pre-crushed graham cracker crumbs. I mixed it with some melted butter and a touch of sugar and baked it until it was golden brown and firmed up. Then, I coated the bottom with a rich satiny layer of dark chocolate ganache (flair #1).
Chocolate ganache bottom
For the pastry cream, I combined whole milk, sugar, and vanilla bean and let it come to a simmer. (A trick with the vanilla bean: if it’s too hard to split in half, throw the entire bean in the saucepan so that it softens as the milk warms up. Once it’s pliable again, fish it out, splice it open, and scrape the seeds out.)
Meanwhile, I whisked together some sugar, cornstarch, and eggs. When the milk boiled, I whisked in the egg mixture. As it heated up again, the mixture thickened up to a pudding-like consistency. To finish off the pastry cream I folded in some freshly whipped cream and bananas.
For my second bit of flair, I wanted to bring some burnt salted caramel into the picture. The subtle tinge of bitterness and pop of salt in the caramel added an interesting dimension to the mix. Plus, salted caramel is always a good decision in my book. Making caramel is surprisingly easy, but for some added reinforcement, I turned to David Lebovitz for some great detailed tips on making the perfect caramel.
Salted Caramel
Now that all the pieces were ready, I layered in all the goodness and got ready for my dreams to come true.
It was even better than I imagined it would be! The flavors complemented each other beautifully. The banana and chocolate -– a classic combo -– but brought to another level of interesting with the addition of the salted caramel, which also played nicely with the buttery graham cracker crumbs. Cool, creamy, sweet, and just so pretty. This is the kind of pie you want to take home to meet the parents.
Beautiful Banana Cream Pie
Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Ganache & Salted Caramel
Inspired by Amanda Hesser’s The Essential New York Times Cookbook.
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
Graham Cracker Crust
1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs (10 or 11 whole crackers)
¼ cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Ganache Layer
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (about 1/2 cup chocolate chips)
Pastry Cream
1 2/3 cups whole milk
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped out and reserved
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salted Caramel Sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel (or kosher salt)
For Assembly
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
3 medium bananas
Preparation:
Make the crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine the crumbs and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter and mix until the crumbs are moistened. Pour the mixture into a 9-inch pie pan and use a flat-bottomed cup to press the crumbs evenly over the bottom; press it up the sides with your fingers. The edges of the shell will be crumbly.
- Bake until lightly browned, 12-15 minutes. Cool completely.
Make the ganache:
- Set the chocolate into a bowl. Heat the heavy cream to boiling point and pour over the chocolate. Let stand a couple of minutes and gently stir until fully incorporated and glossy. It should be the consistency of warmed chocolate syrup. Cool to room temperature. Pour over the cooled pie crust and refrigerate.
Make the pastry cream:
- Combine the milk, ¼ cup of sugar, and the vanilla bean and seeds in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. (Tip: If the vanilla bean is hardened, throw the entire bean in the saucepan so that it softens as the milk warms up. Once it’s pliable again, fish it out, split it in half, and scrape the seeds out. Add it all back into the saucepan until the mixture simmers.)
- In a small bowl, sift the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar together with the cornstarch. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg and yolks.
- When the milk comes to a simmer, strain out the vanilla bean pods. Add the cornstarch mixture to the eggs and whisk until well combined. While whisking, slowly pour in about one-quarter of the milk to temper the egg mixture. Transfer this mixture to the saucepan, set over low heat, and simmer, whisking constantly, until it reaches the consistency of thick pudding. (Be careful not to curdle the eggs.)
- Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until incorporated. If the mixture isn’t quite as smooth as you’d like, you can always run it through a sieve. Pour into a shallow bowl, place plastic wrap directly on the surface, and chill.
Make the caramel sauce:
- In a heavy saucepan set over medium-high heat, stir together sugar and water, and bring to a boil. Let boil until amber-colored. Once it starts taking on color, keep a close eye because it will turn quickly.
- Immediately add butter and stir to incorporate. Remove from heat, add cream and salt (be careful, it will splatter), and mix well. It should be smooth and have a syrup-like consistency. Let cool to room temperature.
To assemble:
- Using an electric mixer or a whisk, whip the heavy cream into peaks. Add powdered sugar and incorporate. Transfer the pastry cream to a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Fold in about half of the whipped cream.
- Line the bottom of the pie crust with a layer of bananas (approximately two bananas sliced into rounds). With the remaining banana, slice half if it into rounds for garnish, and roughly chop the other half to fold into the pastry cream.
- Drizzle a thin layer of caramel sauce over the bananas.
- Spoon the pastry cream evenly into the crust. Mound the remaining whipped cream on top. Drizzle some caramel sauce over the whipped cream, swirling it decoratively. Decorate with remaining banana slices.
- Chill, and serve within 24 hours. Plate with remaining caramel sauce.
Print RecipeUpdate (11/16/12): Use this recipe for the Salted Caramel portion of the pie. Just do it.
Welcome to Lick My Spoon, a place for all things delicious. 
This is a stunner!
thanks, belinda! i was pretty proud of it if i do say so myself
Salted caramel is on the top of my list of favorite sweets, add bananas, choloclate and creamy goodness and oh my goodness!
mmm i know! Â i would eat a tire if you told me it was dipped in salted caramel.
Simply fabulous. I hope i will find all the ingredients over here in Norway…!
good luck!! it would be worth the hunt, i promise!
This pie looks sooo decadent! I love the chocolate ganache layer!
thanks! Â yes, it just bumps up the decadence level! Â i made a pecan pie once with a choc ganache pie bottom as well…so good.
A dream dessert on a plate!!! Love the pictures too!!
thanks!
Wow. Wow. Wow. I love banana cream pie, LOVE IT! And this recipe hits home for me – right int he gut. I might need to make this this weekend, with all your additional flair. Great idea to coat the bottom with the ganache. YUM!
haha seriously, right in the gut
 enjoy!!!
Wow, just wow!
thanks, nicole!
Well….how inspired is this! Both chocolate AND carmel to guild an already delicious banana cream pie. You really ROCK!
aww shucks, thanks, harmony
 i really loved the flavor combos here.  i think it’s my new favorite dessert!
Yummmmmmmmmm. Have you ever had Banoffee pie? Its freaking incredible and apparently super easy to make. Bananas, cream, toffee (made from condensed milk) and a simple shortcrust crust. You should try this one next! I had it 3 times last time I was in London
http://thetastysidetolife.blogspot.com/
mmm wow! that sounds incredible. Â i’m filing it away! Â thx syd
gosh that looks tasty!!
uuuufi this looks yummy.. will make for sure. thx
That looks really good
You know, I just bookmarked the banana cream pie in the Tartine cookbook but now, you’re making me wonder if I should try this version instead… Decisions decisions!
Â
i haven’t tried the Tartine version yet! what are the differences? i think theirs uses a pastry crust rather than graham cracker?
dang… that is the stuff of dreams!
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oh god, you’ve just killed my resolution to diet !!!
haha sorrry
this post should have a warning label on it. Dieters Beware: this will ruin you.
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Yummmm!!!
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haha i couldn’t have said it better myself.
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So glad you loved it, RaeLynn! Happy holidays
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Oh my gosh girl! This looks so good!
Haha thanks, Kristen! Dreaming this one up was one of my finer pastry moments
Definitely a special occasion treat!
I’ve made this twice now and both times my custard is a little on the runny side. Do you think adding cream cheese or mascarpone would help bulk it up a little bit? Even so it was still devilishly delicious
Hi Jenna,
Hmm, my guess is that you just need to cook the pastry cream mixture a bit longer, perhaps at higher heat. The cornstarch in it activates upon simmer and should thicken right up to the consistency of pudding. If it is still looking runny and you want to try adding something to help thicken it up, I would let the entire mixture chill completely, then whip in mascarpone. Let me know how it goes!
-s-
Well, I failed miserably. Â 3 hours and many dishes and ingredients later, my custard is running over the side of the pie plate. Â I feel like the flavors are incredible, yet I am so disappointed in myself for not attaining the beauty of your pie. Â I consider myself to be a pretty good baker, guess I will just have to try again. Â Thank you for this recipe, I am really excited to have all of that extra caramel, and we are just going to scoop it out and eat it like pudding.
Don’t sweat it, Leigh! I am sure it is still absolutely delicious! I mean, Salted Caramel Banana Pie Pudding?! Hellooo, scrumptious. Spoon it into some pretty bowls, cover it in whipped cream and drizzle some caramel on top. It will look (and taste) gorgeous.
Hearing it from you is so much more reassuring than hearing it from my beloved boyfriend, who considers peanut butter and jelly “cooking”. LOL. Â Thanks, Stephanie, I look forward to enjoying more of your recipes.
Haha! Anytime, Leigh. I meant every word. Enjoy that pudding! You are awesome
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