Banana Cream Pie

Name: Banana Cream Pie
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups, unbleached all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon, table salt; 1 tablespoon, granulated sugar; 6 tablespoons, unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/4-inch pieces; 4 tablespoons, vegetable shortening, chilled; 3–4 tablespoons, ice water; 1/2 cup, graham cracker crumbs; 1/2 cup, granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons; 1/4 cup, cornstarch; 1/8 teaspoon, table salt; 5 , large egg yolks, lightly beaten; 2 cups, milk, whole or 2 percent; 1/2 cup, evaporated milk; 1/2 , vanilla bean, about 3-inches long, split lengthwise; 2 tablespoons, unsalted butter; 1 teaspoon, brandy or more to taste; 2 , medium bananas; 1 cup, heavy cream; 2 tablespoons, confectioners' sugar; 1/2 teaspoon, vanilla extract

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated March/April 1996

Desserts or Baked Goods

Fruit

Dessert Pies

We investigate each crucial component of these luscious pies--custard filling, prebaked crust, flavoring, and whipped cream topping.

SERVES8

TIME1¾ hours, plus 1 hour cooling and 4½ hours chilling

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

For our best cream pie recipe, we relied on egg yolks to keep the filling creamy and soft and cornstarch to make it just thick and stiff enough to cut. We poured the filling into the pie when warm, not hot. When hot, the filling was more li...

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