Banana Pudding
Prep Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Serves: 12-14
Banana pudding! Makes you think of summer family gatherings and church potlucks. Where there’s a large crowd of people bringing food, there’s bound to be at least one version of banana pudding. At one of our church potlucks, a friend of mine mentioned using butterscotch pudding instead of traditional vanilla. It sounded super-sweet to me, so I put my thoughts together to find a happy medium. I was very thrilled with how this turned out. My husband is not a big banana pudding fan, but he told me he loved this version. Totally made my day, of course! You can find other suggestions in the “Notes.”
I love searching for history and origins of foods, so of course, I was quite interested in how this sweet trifle came about. To get to the nitty-gritty, Robert Moss of “Serious Eats”, said, “The first recipe appears to be from Good Housekeeping in 1888.” (Aaron Hutcherson of foodandwine.com) Of course, time, traditions and culture have created their own versions over time. The South, I believe, likes to claim this layered confection as one of their staple desserts, iconic of Southern gatherings from reunions to funerals.
So, before my website went “live,” I had called together a group of ladies I knew would give me honest answers and suggestions. My C3 (C-cubed) group of girls tried this out for me. They cleaned their bowls! I liked their suggestions of the caramel sauce and more nuts. Feel free to adapt this to your taste buds!
Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 cups heavy cream, cold
- 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 11-ounce box vanilla wafers
- 8 bananas, peeled and sliced 1/4" thickness
- 1/2 a 3.9-ounce box cheesecake instant pudding
- 1/2 a 3.9-ounce box butterscotch instant pudding
- 2 cups milk, cold
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped and toasted
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer, whip the heavy cream and sugar until stiff peaks form, then set the bowl aside.
- In another bowl, blend the two pudding mixes and milk with a hand mixer until thoroughly combined; set aside. (Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer fitting with the wire whisk attachment.)
- In another bowl, whip the mascarpone until smooth and fluffy. Add the sweetened condensed milk and blend gently until all is incorporated.
- Fold your pudding mix into the mascarpone mixture.
- Then, fold the whipped cream into the pudding mixture.
- Now you can assemble your banana pudding. In the bottom a trifle bowl (or a 9×13” pan), place enough wafer cookies to cover the bottom. Put a layer of sliced bananas over the cookies. Pour about a third of the creamy pudding mixture over your bananas. Repeat this process until all your ingredients are used up (at least one more layer, depending on what size and shape bowl or pan you used.). Finish with a layer of the pudding, then sprinkle the nuts on top. This can be served immediately or chill, covered, in a refrigerator until ready to eat.
Notes
So everyone’s had banana pudding. What’s the big deal, right? Wrong! This stuff is amazing. It is not your ordinary banana pudding recipe. Absolutely fabulous. Would love to have again.