Not all birthdays are celebrated with cake. Just ask my mom. She hasn’t commemorated her birthday with cake for as long as I’ve been alive. Rather, on her special day she requests Banana Cream Pie… and not just any Banana Cream Pie. Each fall my mom celebrates another year on earth with at least two slices of Mile-High Banana Cream Pie with an Oreo Cookie crust. Yes, it’s as decadent as it sounds.
In honor of my mom’s upcoming birthday I thought I would share the recipe for her special pie. I’d love to say that it is an ancient family recipe handed down from her grandma to mine, but alas, my grandmother was not a big baker. The following recipe is from the now defunct bakery where my grandma would purchase my mom’s birthday pie year after year.
It’s not an especially complicated recipe, but the results are worth celebrating even if it’s not your birthday.
CHOCOLATE BANANA CREAM PIE
Ingredients:
For Crust:
1 3/4 cup Oreo cookie crumbs
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
Directions for Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix ingredients together.
Press into a greased 9-inch pie plate.
Bake for 15 minutes, remove and cool.
Ingredients for Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups milk
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions for Filling:
Whisk the sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt and eggs together in a bowl.
In a medium pot heat the milk to a boil.
Add the hot milk slowly into the egg mixture stirring constantly until smooth.
Return the mixture to the pot and slowly bring back to a simmer, stirring constantly.
When you see the mixture boil in the center it is done, remove from the stove and stir in the butter and vanilla.
Ingredients for Topping:
7 bananas
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
Peel and slice bananas
Pour half of the prepared filling into the pie shell, top with more bananas, then the remaining filling.
Place in refrigerator until thoroughly chilled.
In the meantime, combine heavy cream, vanilla and powdered sugar in medium size bowl. Whip to stiff peaks, spoon or pipe on top of pie.
Garnish with banana slices and chocolate shavings.
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