A layered Southern dessert made with vanilla custard, ripe bananas, and vanilla wafers, topped with golden meringue.
Golden meringue peaks top a chilled vanilla custard, studded with banana slices and wafers softened to just the right texture. The layers stay soft yet defined, ready to be spooned straight from the dish. It’s a comforting Southern dessert, the kind you make a day ahead for a family gathering, and it’s best served ice-cold.
What is banana pudding ?
It’s a homemade dessert built in layers of cooked vanilla custard, ripe bananas, and vanilla wafers. The custard is made with milk, sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks, butter, and vanilla, then layered with the bananas and wafers in a buttered baking dish.
In the classic version, Nilla wafers absorb moisture from the custard and bananas as the pudding rests : they soften to a melt-in-the-mouth texture while still giving the dessert structure. The topping is a meringue made from egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar, spread over the warm custard all the way to the edges, then baked until the peaks are lightly browned.
A Southern dessert
This version presents banana pudding as a classic dessert from the American South, made entirely from scratch and adapted from a recipe by Maya Angelou. Four elements : vanilla custard, very ripe bananas, vanilla wafers, and baked meringue. That combination of custard, fruit, wafers, and meringue puts it firmly in the comforting tradition of American cuisine. The dessert is assembled while still warm, lightly browned, then cooled and refrigerated until thoroughly chilled.
The pudding’s main ingredients
The custard starts with milk, sweetened just enough and thickened with cornstarch so it sets into soft yet distinct layers. A pinch of salt sharpens the vanilla flavor. Egg yolks enrich the custard and give it body, a little butter stirred in after cooking makes it silky, and vanilla gives it its aroma.
Very ripe bananas, sliced thinly, bring the fruit : if they’re too green, they’ll taste starchy and bland. Vanilla wafers create the cookie layers. The reserved egg whites, whipped with a little cream of tartar or a squeeze of lemon juice and then sweetened, become a meringue with firm peaks.
Texture, serving, and make-ahead tips
This pudding strikes a balance between softness and structure : ultra-creamy custard, tender wafers, and light meringue with golden peaks. Once thoroughly chilled, it’s served in spooned portions straight from the dish.
Let it rest uncovered in the refrigerator for at least a few hours before serving : the meringue should stay uncovered, since condensation would make it collapse and weep. This dessert is at its best the day it’s made.
Ingredients
Vanilla Custard
- 100 g sugar
- 40 g cornstarch
- 1 pinch salt
- 720 ml milk
- 8 eggs separated, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Assembly and Meringue
- 4 very ripe bananas thinly sliced
- 250 g Nilla-style vanilla wafers
- 8 egg whites from the eggs above
- 0.25 teaspoon cream of tartar or a dash of lemon juice
- 50 g sugar
Instructions
Vanilla Custard
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a 2-liter baking dish.
- In a large saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt.100 g sugar, 40 g cornstarch, 1 pinch salt
- Add the milk and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 5 minutes.720 ml milk
- Boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat.
- Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl.8 eggs
- Temper the yolks with a little of the hot mixture, then pour everything back into the saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, until the custard is thick.
- Remove from the heat, then stir in the butter and vanilla.3 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Assembly and Meringue
- Layer half of the wafers in the dish, then half of the bananas, then half of the custard. Repeat with the remaining wafers, bananas, and custard.250 g Nilla-style vanilla wafers, 4 very ripe bananas
- Beat the egg whites with the sugar until foamy.8 egg whites, 50 g sugar
- Add the cream of tartar (or lemon juice) and beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.0.25 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Spread the meringue over the still-hot custard, making sure it reaches the edges of the dish, and form peaks.
- Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes, until the meringue is golden brown.
- Let cool for 1 hour, then refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 4 hours before serving.
