Tuesday, April 7, 2009

TWD - Banana Cream Pie

I have a confession to make .... I had a complete kitchen meltdown on Sunday. The kind of meltdown reserved for those moments when you have screamin' PMS and somebody stole the last chocolate bar from your super secret hiding spot. And left the wrapper the behind out of spite. You know what I'm talkin' about!
So here's the story. Phase I of the banana cream pie extravaganza required pie crust making. I made Dorie's "Good for Nothing", I mean "Good for Almost Everything" Pie Dough as instructed. I've baked this crust before and sadly had to throw it out because it shrank. It shrank A LOT! I decided to give it another go and valiant efforts resulted in ... shrinkage.

Sigh ... so I had a little fit and was ready to call the whole thing off. Sorry folks, no pie for you. Luckily, some cooler heads in the TWD group prevailed and I was convinced to give it another go round. For the second attempt, I decided to take the graham cracker crust route. Since I had some leftover macadamia nuts, I threw those in the mix too - just for good measure! :) I made a couple more changes along the way too. The biggest tweak to the recipe was my decision to use my 10-inch tart pan instead of a regular pie pan. I made a half batch of both the custard and the topping and used only a single layer of bananas.

Would you just look at that beautifully fluted and well behaved graham cracker macadamia nut pie crust! I was quite happy with the results! I've never baked banana cream anything so I had to dig into this one right away and despite my crust troubles, I think I may come back to this recipe! The custard was smooth and creamy and the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar wonderfully complemented the bananas and the macadamia nuts. The topping was rich and delicious with a light touch of sour cream.

Thanks to Amy of Sing for Your Supper for choosing this week's recipe which can be found on her blog and on pages 342 and 343 of Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Yours." Don't forget to check out the rest of the TWD bakers to see how they baked their Banana Cream Pie.

19 comments:

Teanna said...

Oh that macadamia and graham cracker crust sounds phenomenal! The pie looks delicious!

chocolatechic said...

Your crust sounds delicious!

As for your pie, you need pie weights.

If you don't want to purchase some, just put either a layer of foil or parchment paper in the bottom of your raw crust. Pour some dried beans on top and bake for half the required amount of time. Take the parchment and beans off, and finish baking.

Voila...no shrinkage.

Spike said...

graham cracker macadamia nut pie crust! amazing!

Flourchild said...

What a great sounding crust. I love macadamia nuts. Sorry your crust didn't turn out like you wanted it too.

farah said...

It looks great! Well done for persevering, i'm so glad you enjoyed it :)

Jules Someone said...

Yeah! Glad it finally worked out for you. I'll bet the graham/macadamia crust was wonderful!

Amy of Sing For Your Supper said...

Beautiful! I bet the graham cracker crust was to die for! Thanks for baking with me this week!

-Amy
www.singforyoursupperblog.com

Cathy said...

I had crust shrinkage too. It was infuriating! I LOVE your graham cracker/macadamia nut crust -- brilliant, and a nice recovery! It looks delicious.

natalia said...

Wow I love your fluted crust it smells wonderfully !

Heather said...

Macadamia graham cracker crust?! YUM!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I may have *nearly* licked my screen again.

beautiful and sorry about your meltdown.

Unknown said...

Wow, it looks phenomenal with the graham cracker crust in the tart pan! Glad you decided to give it another go :)

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you perservered and made the recipe. It was so delicious. The graham cracker/mac nut crust sounds delicious.

Ivette said...

Your pie definitely looks great! I'm glad you gave it a second chance because this pie rocked! I was actually lazy about making the pie crust that I made an easy vanilla wafer crust instead... it was great!

Sweet as Coco said...

I had trouble my first go around with the pie crust...just takes some practice. For me... I need ALOT of practice.

Your pie just looks amazing and I LOVE how you made it in your tart pan....tarts are just so beautiful in my opinion...

Your custard looks amazing too...Wonderful job!

Anonymous said...

My crust was a dud, too. I have made other crust recipes with no problem, so I don't know what happened. The crust you used sounds fabulous, though!

TeaLady said...

oooouuuuhhhh!!!!! graham cracker macademia crust. Genuis. I used the pie weights and still had a little shrinkage. Hang in = crusts do get easier.

margot said...

Great comeback, it looks fantastic and the macademia nut crust sounds delicious.

Annette said...

Your pie looks delicious! I had some trouble with my crust too, but it tasted really good. :)