Nilla Banana Pudding

Mother-in-law surprised me one afternoon by saying that she wanted to make Banana Pudding. So we quickly went to work and got the recipe from the Nabisco website. The end product was delicious! The top tasted like meringue, and I liked the way the wafers got all mushy and sweet like it was pudding (duh!).


What you need:

• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3 eggs, separated
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 45 Nilla wafers, divided
• 5 medium ripe bananas, sliced (we used only 3)
• dash of salt

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix 1/2 cup of the sugar, flour and salt in the top part of a double boiler. Blend in 3 egg yolks and milk (save the egg whites). Cook, uncovered, over boiling water for 10 to 12 minutes, or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat then stir in vanilla.

Reserve 12 of the wafers for garnish. Spread a small amount of custard onto the bottom of a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Cover with layers of 1/3 each of the remaining wafers and sliced bananas. Pour about 1/3 of the remaining custard over bananas. Continue to layer wafers, bananas and custard to make a total of 3 layers of each, ending with custard.

Beat egg whites on high speed of electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Spoon over custard; spread evenly to cover the entire surface with it, and seal the edges well.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool slightly. Top with reserved 12 wafers and bananas just before serving.


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks:

1. It is important to keep stirring the custard - else it will form glops. You wouldn't like that. :-(
2. Soft peak is when the peaks of the egg whites droop slightly when you lift the fork or beater. Stiff peak is when egg whites are very stiff and glossy, and stands when you lift the fork.
3. To keep your bananas from turning brown after you cut them, add a bit of acid to it - lemon, orange or pineapple juice will work!