This week’s pick was Banana Cream Pie. I was excited to make this because my parents love banana cream pie. However, this isn’t your typical banana pudding and meringue pie. It’s a pastry cream filling with whipped cream on top.

I didn’t make the pie crust, so I bought one pre-made. I wanted to, but I had a super-packed weekend two weeks ago (when I made this pie) and was too exhausted. I barely finished making this pie before running off for the night. Plus I usually end up with a tough pie crust. I don’t even like eating pie crust.



This recipe I used fresh nutmeg for the first time, thanks to Marx Foods. They mailed me samples of six spices a few weeks ago. The people there are just awesome. Now if I can find a good recipe to use the rest of my spices. Any recipes with grains of paradise, tellicherry or scheuzan peppercorns? Anyway, back to the nutmeg. Now I know why you should use fresh – it’s very powerful! I’m definitely going to consider using fresh nutmeg when possible.



Back to the pie itself. The pastry cream confused me. I was expecting silky smooth, like eclairs. Especially since banana cream pie normally has that smooth pudding. Wrong (unless I overcooked it??). It was thick and kinda gloopy, but it was still smooth. It spread easily over the bananas, so I guess I did it correctly? It tasted like pumpkin pie with the nutmeg and cinnamon. Since I was running short on time, the cream only chilled for an hour in the fridge and was still pretty warm. Didn’t notice much of a difference since the assembled pie chilled in the fridge overnight.



As for the topping, the whipped cream was different. Good, but I prefer the traditional meringue. Plus you are left with 6 egg whites, so might as well use some making meringue. I used some of the whites for cupcakes.

It lasted only 2 days with four people. You can find the recipe on pages 342-343 of Baking: From My Home To Yours.