Banana Puddin’ for Two

First make your vanilla wafers. I prefer to make these a day ahead and let them sit on the counter to crisp up. Preheat the oven to 350F°.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the softened butter and sugar. When the sugar is dissolved, add the vanilla and heavy cream. Whisk together very well. Add the flour mixture and fold together with a spatula. Chill the batter for about 10 minutes before proceeding.

Scoop the chilled batter out onto a baking sheet using a teaspoon scoop, then chill the dough balls in the refrigerator for another 10 minutes. Then, press the tops slightly down to encourage a flat not domed cookie. Bake for 14-18 minutes, or until edges of cookies are browned. This recipe makes 16 cookies. You won’t need all of them for banana pudding, so enjoy the extras!

Now let’s get on with the puddin’. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, corn starch and salt. Slowly add the milk and heavy cream to this mixture, whisking all the while. Once the liquid is homogenous, add it into a small saucepan. Have the beaten egg yolk handy, by your saucepan. Turn the heat to medium and cook the pudding mixture while stirring continuously. In about 5-6 minutes, the pudding will begin to thicken and bubble around the edges. Turn off the heat. Pour a small amount of this mixture into the egg yolk and whisk vigorously. Add a little more and continue to whisk. You are tempering your egg yolk. Now, pour the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan and turn the heat back to medium. Bring the mixture to a boil while continuously whisking. It should take 2-4 minutes. Once the mixture has boiled, turn off the heat and add the butter and vanilla. Stir to dissolve, then pour pudding into a glass bowl, press plastic wrap directly on the surface, and chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Next, slice the banana into ¼” slices and have the vanilla wafers ready. Take two individual trifle dishes and add a spoonful of pudding to the bottom of each. Top with 1 wafer, followed by a couple slices of the banana. Repeat layers until all the banana slices and pudding are used up or when you get to the top of the trifle dish. Cover this mixture with plastic wrap and let it chill for at least 4 hours before serving. Before serving, garnish with whipped cream and leftover wafers. Smile and serve.