This Banana Cream Pie has a digestive biscuit crust, an amazingly creamy and luscious banana cream filling with fresh banana slices in between. It is a real treat for all of you who love bananas.
One thing is crucial if you want this pie to have an intense banana flavor. Use really ripe bananas with an almost black skin. You can smell the sweet, strong banana flavor as soon as you peel these soft and squishy bananas. You might not eat them like this, but they are perfect for this pie by this point.
When it comes to decorating your banana cream pie, you can go wild or just top it with a couple of extra banana slices. I like to add some chocolate chunks on top… yummy.
Tools & Equipment
- 23cm / 9-inch pie dish
- Cutting board
- Food processor
- Heat proof container
- Medium bowl
- Medium saucepan
- Paring knife
- Silicone spatula
- Small bowl
- Stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment
- Whisk
Recipe Tips
Bananas: For this pie you need very ripe bananas. Sometimes it’s hard to find very ripe bananas, so I use a little trick here. I buy regular ripe bananas and freeze them for at least 2-3 days, where they automatically turn brown/black. You can keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Remove these bananas from the freezer the night before you want to use them and let them thaw overnight in the fridge. Now you have the perfect bananas for this recipe.
Gelatin: If you do not have gelatin sheets on hand, you can substitute them with gelatin powder. 1 sachet (9g = 1 tablespoon) of gelatin powder is equivalent to 6 gelatin leaves. For this recipe you will need 3g of gelatin powder.
Food Coloring: This step is optional and you can skip it. However, if you want to have a nice banana-yellow pie, color the mixture with yellow food coloring until you reach the desired yellow tone. This can be a lot of coloring, as banana creams don’t get that bright yellow color naturally.
Ingredients for Banana Cream Pie
Step by Step Guide – How to Make Banana Cream Pie
Make the Crust
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Place the digestive biscuits in a food processor or blender to crush them into small crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a medium bowl, add brown sugar and salt and stir until no brown sugar lumps are visible.
Melt the butter in 20-second intervals in the microwave. Drizzle the melted butter over the digestive biscuit mixture and stir with a silicone spatula to evenly moisten the mixture. Transfer to a 23cm/9-inch pie dish.
Spread it evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the pie dish, using the back of a measuring cup to press it down firmly. Bake for 7-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
Make the Banana Cream Filling
Place the bananas, heavy cream and milk in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Add the sugar, cornstarch, salt and egg yolks.
Continue to blend until homogeneous. Transfer the mixture to a medium saucepan and warm over medium-low heat. Let the gelatin bloom in cold water for about 2 minutes.
As the banana mixture heats up, it will thicken. Bring to a boil, then whisk vigorously to fully cook the cornstarch, for about 2 minutes. The mixture will resemble a thick glue. Transfer to a food processor or blender. Add the bloomed gelatin and butter.
Blend until smooth. Add yellow food coloring until desired yellow tone is reached. Chill the banana mixture until completely cold. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat heavy cream and powdered sugar on medium until medium soft peaks form, for about 2 minutes.
Add the cold banana mixture to the whipped cream and whisk slowly until evenly colored and homogeneous, for about 1-2 minutes.
Assemble the Pie
Cut a large banana into slices. Once the crust has cooled, pour in a little filling to cover the bottom of the crust and top with banana slices.
Pour half of the banana cream filling on top and cover again with banana slices. Then add the rest of the banana cream to cover the bananas. Decorate as desired, with banana slices and chocolate chunks.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
Storage: Keep the banana cream pie in the fridge until ready to serve. This pie is most delicious within the first 2 days and should be eaten within a few days after making. No need to cover leftover pie, just store it in the fridge.
Freezing Instructions: Unfortunately, I have no experience freezing a banana cream pie. I think you could freeze this pie, however, the texture will change significantly no matter how well you prep the pie for freezing.
My Summary for Banana Cream Pie
Difficulty: Simple.
Taste & Texture: This pie has a terrific banana flavor. The crust, made from digestive biscuits, is not too sweet and works perfectly with the banana cream filling. The banana filling is creamy while the crust has a nice crunch. The banana slices in the filling add even more texture to the pie.
Time: Making the crust takes about 15 minutes and baking time is 7-10 minutes. For the 1st part of the banana cream filling, plan on about 45 minutes plus chilling time in the fridge of about 1 hour. The 2nd part of the banana cream filling is done in about 15 minutes. Assembling the pie takes about 5 minutes.
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