Homemade Banana Pudding

Whenever I visit New York City, I make a point to visit Magnolia Bakery and get their rich, sweet, creamy and dreamy banana pudding! They posted their recipe for the banana pudding on their website, and I tried it at home and loved it, but it made me think, I could make up my own recipe with some changes to make it a little less cloyingly sweet, and test out some ideas I've been wanting to try! I would liken this to a hybrid of a trifle and a banana pudding (I added vanilla sponge cake instead of Nilla wafers). Because the cake is already soft, you don't have to wait hours for the Nilla wafers to soften in the fridge in the pudding, so you can eat it quicker! It's a cool, creamy alternative to ice cream, and I think it's the perfect early summer dessert!

Makes about 7 cups (6 large servings)

Ingredients:

For the vanilla pudding (adapted from Celebrating Sweets):

3 egg yolks

1/3 cup white sugar

1 pinch of salt

2 and 1/4 cups whole, 2%, or coconut milk

2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch or tapioca flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

For the vanilla sponge cake:

1 and 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon white sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

3 egg whites (room temp)

½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons milk (or milk substitute)

5 Tablespoons of very soft unsalted butter

Other Ingredients:

1 and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (or chilled coconut cream)

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

2 bananas

Step 1: Make the cake by whisking together the softened butter and sugar, then add the egg whites and whip it all together until combined, and the egg whites are foamy and a little stiff, about 2 minutes. Then add the milk and extracts. In a separate bowl mix together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and add the dry ingredients to the wet in two batches. Bake in a square or rectangular pan at 350F for about 20-25 mins. Let the cake cool.

Step 2: Make the pudding by combining all ingredients except vanilla and butter together in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 8 minutes, whisking once every minute until the mixture is bubbling, then turn the heat to low and continue cooking for 2 minutes until thickened. Then add the vanilla and butter, and allow to cool completely and set into a thick and wiggly pudding consistency in the fridge.

Step 3: Whip the cream or coconut cream with the powdered sugar to stiff peaks. Then add the cooled pudding to the original whipped cream bowl, gently folding it in. Then crumble the cake up into pieces about the size of a nickel, or for a trifle, cube the cake in 1/2 inch pieces. Slice the bananas into "coins".

Step 4: Start with a layer of cake, then the pudding and cream mixture, then bananas, and repeat, the final layer will be the reserved whipped cream. Let sit in the fridge about 1 hour for the flavors to meld and the cake to absorb some of the pudding. Enjoy!

Dairy Free Tip: To make the coconut cream, put a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight, at least 10 hours. This will firm the fat and separate it from the more liquidy part. To make the whipped cream, remove only the solid part, which will be at the top of the can and whip it on high speed, it will have the same consistency of dairy whipped cream. If you're allergic to coconut, you can use Cool Whip or any non-dairy whipped topping!