HappyCook80's Recipe

White Chocolate Banana Cream Pies

Category: Recipes

White Chocolate Banana Cream Pies

Pie Shells:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
about 3 tablespoons of ice water

Filling:
4 cups milk
1 vanilla bean, split
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup cornstarch, sifted
5 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 medium bananas, sliced 1/4 inch thick

Topping:
4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped, plus about 2 ounces of white chocolate shavings for garnish
3 cups heavy cream, chilled
1/4 cup confectioners sugar

In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Using your fingers, rub in the shortening and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the ice water to form a soft dough. Divide the dough in half and shape it into two 6-inch disks. Wrap each disk in plastic and
refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out
each disk of dough to a 12 inch round. Transfer each round to a 9 inch pie pan and press the dough into the corners. Fold in the edge of each pie shell and crimp the rim of each with a fork. Prick the bottoms with the form and bake in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool.

Make the filling: In a medium saucepan, combine 3 cups of the milk with the vanilla bean, 1/2 cup of the sugar and the salt. Bring just to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat, cover, and set aside for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 1 cup milk and 3/4 cup sugar and the cornstarch until smooth. Whisk in 1 cup of the warm milk. Bring the remaining warm milk just to a boil over moderately high heat and whisk in the egg yolk mixture in a steady stream. Cook, whisking constantly, until the custard is thickened and starts to bubble around the edge, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain into a bowl. Stir in the chopped white chocolate and let cool.

Arrange the sliced bananas in the baked pie shells, covering the bottoms. Spoon the custard over the bananas. Set a lightly buttered round of waxed paper directly on the filling of each pie and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

Make the topping: Melt the chopped white chocolate in the top of a double boiler, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Let cool to tepid. In a large bowl, beat the cream with the sugar until soft peaks form. Gently whisk one-third of the whipped cream into the melted white chocolate. Fold the white chocolate mixture into the remaining whipped cream just until combined.

Discard the wax paper from the pies. Using a spatula, swirl the whipped cream over the filling. Garnish with the white chocolate shavings.
Yields 2, 9 inch pies.