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Banana Puddin'

hershellipow

By hershellipow
in Pastry & Baking

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Gifted Gourmet

Gifted Gourmet

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For many people who lead busy lives, there is probably not much interest in going through the effort of whipping egg whites and then browning the classic meringue when it is quicker and easier and equally attractive to use a topping like Cool Whip (which complements the creaminess of the banana filling) ...

not regional but simplicity probably dictates this method ... :hmmm: nobody is looking to wash another mixing bowl these days ...

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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Gifted Gourmet

Gifted Gourmet

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Perhaps another interesting question worth asking about classic southern banana pies is who ever got the idea to use Nabisco (or something similar) Vanilla Wafers to the finished product? :rolleyes:

Is this how these pies were originally conceived?

What was used before these Vanilla Wafers were invented in southern pies?

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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Mayhaw Man

Mayhaw Man

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Welcome to eGullet Hershipillow!

I grew up in the Delta Region of Louisiana and have eaten a boatload of banana pudding, but until I moved to South Louisiana, I never had never seen a topping of any sort on banana pudding (other than extra vanilla wafers and more bananas). Now I don't want it any other way. But it's meringue for me, not cool whip. Never really understood cool whip. How hard is it to whisk heavy cream and a little granulated sugar for a whipped topping or to whisk egg whites for meringue? Especially if you have a mixer with a whip.

I have really come to enjoy making and eating Frank Brigsten's Banana Bread Pudding. This stuff is a knockout and really easy to make (as are most bread puddings). You should give it a try soon. It's great and everybody seems to love it.

Brooks Hamaker, aka "Mayhaw Man"

There's a train everyday, leaving either way...

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Gifted Gourmet

Gifted Gourmet

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Never really understood cool whip. How hard is it to whisk heavy cream and a little granulated sugar for a whipped topping or to whisk egg whites for meringue? Especially if you have a mixer with a whip.

For many, and I daresay that the producers of the aforementioned Cool Whip will back me up on this, this topping is considerably easier to open and spoon out than chilling bowls and beaters and then whipping the cream and then washing out the bowl and beaters ... simply defrost and go :hmmm: ... and the success of the original Cool Whip led to even more variations: creamier, dietetic, synthetic, flavors, even aerosol .... :wink:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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ruthcooks

ruthcooks

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Yeah, it's easier...but then you gotta EAT it. Too sweet, too chemical tasting. Similar characteristics with whipped cream? It's white and contains air. I'd rather eat something plain if I can't have real whipped cream.

Ruth Dondanville aka "ruthcooks"

“Are you making a statement, or are you making dinner?” Mario Batali

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ludja

ludja

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Posted (edited)
Perhaps another interesting question worth asking about classic southern banana pies is who ever got the idea to use Nabisco (or something similar) Vanilla Wafers to the finished product? :rolleyes:

Probably Nabisco... and the makers of instant pudding.

Probably similar to Karo Syrup and popular versions of pecan pie. If you look at Karo's website they chronicle their publication of a pecan recipe as part of the syrup label and the ensuing sales and proliferation of recipes using Karo that followed.

Bill Neal credits the original roots of banana pudding to English trifles that were also popular in the South. Seems reasonable.

Found this recipe using home made pudding, vanilla wafers and meringue here

Thanks for bringing this up hershellipow (and welcome). I didn't grow up with the dessert and was only familar with the whipped cream incarnation... :smile:

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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joiei

joiei

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Welcome Hershellipow, from my upbringing, both of my grandmothers made there banana puddings with meringue. On my mothers side, the heritage is Northwest Florida and on my fathers side, my grandmother was Texas and her mother was Mississippi.

From what I have observed, the coolwhip phenomena came about when grocery stores started adding deli's.

It is good to be a BBQ Judge.  And now it is even gooder to be a Steak Cookoff Association Judge.  Life just got even better.  Woo Hoo!!!

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Squeat Mungry

Squeat Mungry

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Perhaps another interesting question worth asking about classic southern banana pies is who ever got the idea to use Nabisco (or something similar) Vanilla Wafers to the finished product? :rolleyes:

Is this how these pies were originally conceived?

What was used before these Vanilla Wafers were invented in southern pies?

My grandmother on my father's side ("Granny"), used to make a "banana rum pudding", which was basically the vanilla wafer thing with rum, except she used cut up pound cake instead of the vanilla wafers.

Also, there was usually no topping on this except, as Brooks describes, more bananas and pound cake.

Squeat

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fifi

fifi

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When great aunt Minnie was visiting, the banana pudding was always topped with her most excellent toasted meringue. When she wasn't around, we would use more vanilla wafers.

She, of course, made her own vanilla pudding. I don't think she would have known how to open a box. :biggrin: I think my mother did too. Now we have to find the recipe. I think this is a good idea for Thanksgiving.

I don't think I have ever had it with whipped cream.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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pyrguy

pyrguy

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I never had it with a topping either.

One Grandmother was from North Central Louisiana and made a vanilla pudding to top the wafers and banana slices, as did her sisters and sisters-in-law.

The other grandmother was born on Bayou LaFourche and made banana pudding with "Bouie" (sp) , French for boiled, a custard of boiled milk, sugar, vanilla, and a little corn starch. It's been a while since I've made it and I cannot remember the correct amounts. :wacko:

Dwight

If at first you succeed, try not to act surprised.

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Cusina

Cusina

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ludja, that recipe you posted is so conversational.

"This recipe will not use the whole box, so you may snack, but don't get carried away. " :big grin:

This just cracked me up.

What's wrong with peanut butter and mustard? What else is a guy supposed to do when we are out of jelly?

-Dad

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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On several occasions (some years ago) I made, at the request of a client, a sort of banana trifle.

I made a banana sponge cake in a tube pan and cut it into 3 layers.

I put the bottom layer into the trifle bowl, drizzled it with banana liquor then added a layer of banana pudding into which I had folded sliced bananas, then some whipped cream flavored with the banana liquor.

Repeated with the second layer and the third, then filled the center with sliced strawberries and more banana pudding. Piped whipped cream in rosettes over the top.

My client loved it so much he would have me make two, one for his guests and one just for himself.

This was the same guy who used to stroll around his house, out to the patio or pool and back into the kitchen totally starkers. The first time this happened I was a bit taken aback, however his maid said that he did it all the time. He never seemed to pay attention to what he was or wasn't wearing. I did advise him one time that he should not stand so close to the grill when I was firing it up. He asked why and I said either stand back or cover yourself because if these coals start popping you could get a burn. All he said was "righto, protect the goolies," then took an apron from a drawer and wrapped it around his waist. Up to that time I had always thought Brits were rather modest, however I suppose rockers are a breed apart.

It is a very nice presentation for banana pudding, takes it to an entire new level.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Andrew Fenton

Andrew Fenton

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I have seen banana pudding with whipped cream topping on occasion and wondered why people stray from the traditional merangue I grew up enjoying in Mississippi. Is there a sub-regional difference in taste? :blink:  :blink:

In his book North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored by Time, Bob Garner offers two recipes for banana pudding: a winter pudding, topped with meringue and allowed to mellow at room temperature, and a summer pudding, which is layered with whipped cream and softened in the refrigerator.

Me, I like meringue. I like how it gets slightly browned and caramelized; I like the elegance and economy of using the yolks for one part of the dish and the whites for the other; and I like its airiness, and the tiny bubbles that pop on your tongue.

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ludja

ludja

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ludja, that recipe you posted is so conversational.

"This recipe will not use the whole box, so you may snack, but don't get carried away. "  :big grin:

This just cracked me up.

It is a fun article. The recipe sounds pretty good too. Maybe I will try making my own first banana pudding at home!

It's been one of the best side affects of participating on egullet--innspiration to cook or eat things I may not have thought of before.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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Say, does anybody ever make banana pudding with flavors of custard other than vanilla?  Chocolate, butterscotch, lemon custard: all might be worth experimenting with, but I've never seen them.

Yes I have. I have combined it with maple flavoring. But not on purpose.....

It was actually an accident, I was wearing my contact without my reading glasses. I had laser surgery in my left eye to correct severe myopia. My right eye is still extremely near sighted, 20x600 so I can read very well. However I had been shopping and I wear a contact lens in the right eye so I can drive and did not bother to remove the lens or put on my reading glasses because, of course I know where everything is in the kitchen.

Unknown to me my housekeeper had cleaned and shifted things around just enough to throw me off. I picked up the bottle and measured and dumped it into the bowl before it registered on my nose that it was not vanilla.

It was actually very good.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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joiei

joiei

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Banana pudding trifle, I think I will be all over that in a couple of weeks. :smile:

It is good to be a BBQ Judge.  And now it is even gooder to be a Steak Cookoff Association Judge.  Life just got even better.  Woo Hoo!!!

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RebeccaT

RebeccaT

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I associate Banana Pudding with family reunions in Jackson, MS. I associate family reunions with Cool Whip. Therefore, by the transitive property, I associate Banana Pudding with Cool Whip.

Although I really shouldn't take that too far, or else I will also be forced to associate Banana Pudding with Jello Pretzel Salad or Green Bean Casserole. :raz:

Apparently Paula Deen makes hers with Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies instead of Nilla Wafers. Has anyone tried this? I love the idea of shortbread cookies as a change of pace...

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ruthcooks

ruthcooks

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Once I had a student whose husband loved banana pudding above all else, so I made him a dessert which I called "Banana Cream Pie, Michael's Fantasy." Eventually it ended up in a rectangular baking dish: a graham cracker crust (I actually think vanilla wafer crumbs would be better)and a sort of banana liqueur flavored bavarian cream topped with sliced bananas and an apricot glaze.

Somewhere in these millions of recipes I have is one for banana pudding that really intrigues me--it has a drizzle of caramel running through it. Another idea: how about some broken up pralines?

I'm getting carried away. I think I forgot to eat lunch.

Ruth Dondanville aka "ruthcooks"

“Are you making a statement, or are you making dinner?” Mario Batali

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Gifted Gourmet

Gifted Gourmet

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I just read this morning that they'll be serving fried banana pudding at the North Carolina State Fair.  Not sure about that one.

This is fairly straightforward but adds the step of frying the bananas first with a bit of sugar, butter, and possibly rum .. but I think all of that would detract from the creaminess the disintegrating bananas add to a banana pudding ... :rolleyes:

As for Mayhaw Man's fried pimento cheese balls :shock: , how bad could that possibly be? Roll them in bread crumbs and fry up in butter, or lard, for a crispy exterior ... crispy with creamy centers .. I like it already! :wink:

both of these items are made by making more work for the cook than necessary and, in the overall scheme of things, is only another variation upon a theme ... I would opt to go with the simpler versions of banana pudding and the pimento cheese au naturel ...

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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FistFullaRoux

FistFullaRoux

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Posted (edited)
I never had it with a topping either.

One Grandmother was from North Central Louisiana and made a vanilla pudding to top the wafers and banana slices, as did her sisters and sisters-in-law.

The other grandmother was born on Bayou LaFourche and made banana pudding with "Bouie" (sp) , French for boiled, a custard of boiled milk, sugar, vanilla, and a little corn starch. It's been a while since I've made it and I cannot remember the correct amounts.  :wacko:

OMG... I had completely forgotten about "bouille". I got to make some.

Now. So homesick...

Edited by FistFullaRoux (log)
Screw it. It's a Butterball.
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