Ingredients: |
Ingredients: Sugar Dough
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¼ cup plus 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons beaten egg (less than ½ of a large egg)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
White Chocolate Pastry Cream
1 cup milk
½ vanilla bean, spit lengthwise
3 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1½ ounces white chocolate, chopped
White Chocolate Curls (optional)
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream, well chilled
4 ripe bananas
Juice of ½ lemon
1½ tablespoons banana liqueur or rum
1½ tablespoons white crème de cacao or Amaretto
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for sprinkling
|
Directions: |
Directions:1. Sugar Dough: In a food processor, combine the butter and sugar, pulsing just until blended (or cut the ingredients together with two knives). Add the egg, pulsing or tossing to combine. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated, no longer. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk, and wrap in plastic or wax paper. Chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.
2. Preheat the oven to 350° F, with a rack in the lower third. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a large circle about 1/8 inch thick. Gently fit it, without stretching, into a buttered 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, preferably one with fluted sides. (Alternatively, you can bake this is a 10-inch or deep 9½ -inch pie pan.) Trim off the excess dough, leaving a 3/4-inch overhang. Tuck in the overhanging dough, pressing the edges of the crust against the sides of the pan and forming a high, fluted border. Line the dough with a sheet of buttered foil, buttered side down; weigh down with dried beans, rice, or pie weights. Bake the shell until the sides are set, about 12 minutes. Carefully remove the weights and foil and gently prick the dough all over with a fork. Continue to bake until pale gold and baked through, about 5 minutes longer. Cool the pie shell completely on a wire rack.
3. White Chocolate Pastry Cream: Bring the milk and the vanilla bean to a boil in a heavy non reactive saucepan. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until pale and light, about 1½ minutes. Whisk in the cornstarch until smooth. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and whisk about ¼ cup of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture. Repeat once or twice. Scrape the warmed egg yolk mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk and return to a boil, whisking. Whisking constantly, boil for 1 minute. Remove the pastry cream from the heat, and whisk in the butter and white chocolate until smooth. Strain the custard into a clean bowl. Place a sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream and refrigerate until cooled.
4. Optional White Chocolate Curls: Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler set over hot water until smooth. Pour the chocolate onto a marble slab or the back of a smooth baking sheet. With a spatula, spread out the chocolate into an even 1/8-inch-thick layer. Set aside at cool room temperature or refrigerate until the chocolate is firm but not brittle (8 to 10 minutes in the refrigerator).
5. Push a chef’s knife blade or palette knife away from you through a 4-inch width of chocolate, forming a loose curl. Continue to form chocolate curls with the remaining chocolate. (The chef likes them “big and thin.”) With a large spatula, very gently transfer the curls to a baking sheet and refrigerate until needed. (The recipe can be prepared in advance to this point.)
6. Shortly before serving time, whip the cream until nearly stiff. Thinly slice the bananas and toss with the lemon juice to prevent darkening. Fold the bananas and the liqueurs into the chilled pastry cream; gently fold in the whipped cream until blended. Fill the cooled pie shell with the filling. Gently scatter the chocolate curls over the filling, covering the tart completely. Very lightly dust the chocolate curls with cocoa powder and serve. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: Leigh and I are great fans of the The Buckhead Diner in Atlanta, Georgia, an updated, postmodern homage to the diner. We probably could not tell you any dish (they are all good) that we have eaten there, except what we had for dessert. It is always "White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie" - and worth dieting all week for this dessert! Former chef-owner Gerry Klaskala’s banana cream pie is a new reading of an old favorite – with its spirit kept intact. All of the components except the whipped cream can be prepared in advance. It is very rich, so smaller pieces are still satisfying!
|
This recipe for White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie is from