Bourbon Banana Cream Pie

Guys... GUYS...

Talk about decadence. This was determined a household favorite after the first bite. The crust is made of vanilla wafers and the filling is a deep vanilla, bourbon pastry cream that you could easily eat on your own with a big spoon (I promise I won't judge). Then topped with bananas and homemade whipped cream? Uh yeaahhh?

This is one of those pies that taste better after each day because the longer it sits, the better the flavors meld together. I mean, banana pudding is delicious on its own, but with bourbon, brown sugar, and a touch of cinnamon it's totally amped!

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Servings: 8-12

Total Time: 5 hours

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups vanilla wafers

• 1/2 cup butter

• 2 cups whole milk

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• Pinch of salt

• 6 large egg yolks

• 1/4 cup cornstarch

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 5 Tablespoons bourbon

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream

• 2 Tablespoons white sugar

• 3 large bananas

DIRECTIONS:

For the Crust...

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Pulse the vanilla wafers in a food processor (or crush them finely in a Ziploc bag). Add 1/4 cup melted butter to the wafer crumbs.

3. Press the mixture in a 9 inch pie dish. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool.

For the Pastry Cream...

1. In a small sauce pan, melt the remaining 1/4 cup butter over medium low heat. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the butter turns a light brown. Set aside to cool.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt until just barely steaming, stirring well to dissolve the brown sugar.

3. While the milk mixture is heating up, whisk together the egg yolks and cornstarch in a large bowl.

4. Slowly add the hot milk mixture to the eggs a little bit at a time, whisking continuously, until all combined.

5. Add the mixture back into the saucepan and return to medium heat. Add vanilla and 3 Tbsp bourbon. Whisk in the browned butter.

6. Pass the pastry cream through a mesh strainer to get out all of the lumps. Chill completely (at least 2x hours). It will be very thick when it is chilled.

For the Whipped Cream...

1. Whip the heavy whipping cream to soft peaks.

2. Slowly add the white sugar and the remaining 2 Tbsp of bourbon, then whip to stiff peaks.

3. Gently fold half of the whipped cream into the pastry cream.

To Assemble the Pie...

1. Spread a thin layer of pastry cream over the bottom of the pie crust.

2. Add a layer of sliced bananas and then add the rest of the pastry cream.

3. Top with the rest of the whipped cream.

4. Let chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour or overnight.

5. Before serving, top with more sliced bananas and crumbled vanilla wafers.