As much as I love banana pudding, I never served it to guests until I figured out how to make it a bit more elegant. Real vanilla beans and brown sugar take it to a new level and serving it in individual portions is key. This is the perfect make-ahead dessert.
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2 cups whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold, unsalted butter
3 bananas (2 diced and 1 sliced)
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
mini Nilla Wafers
Heat milk and vanilla bean in small saucepan. As soon as it reaches a boil, remove from heat and set aside to let the vanilla bean infuse the milk.
Whisk egg yolks and brown sugar together until fluffy. Add cornstarch and whisk until smooth. Remove vanilla bean from warm milk and discard. Whisk 1/4 of the hot milk into egg mixture until incorporated. Then whisk in the remaining milk. Strain this mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until pudding is thick and starting to boil slowly. Remove from heat and stir in the butter.
Dice 2 of the bananas (about 1/4 inch) and stir into the pudding. Fill individual ramekins about half full then add a layer of mini Nilla Wafers. Add pudding to reach the rim of the ramekin. Cover each ramekin with plastic wrap, pressing wrap to make contact with pudding and refrigerate until cold. Whip the cream with the confectioner’s sugar. To serve, garnish puddings with banana slices, a dollop of whipped cream and a mini Nilla Wafer, if desired.
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