Beatrix Potter’s Banana Pudding with Graham Cracker Crumbles
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It’s a glorious day for a tea party, don’t you think? I know that you will absolutely adore this banana pudding with homemade vanilla buttermilk custard! If you have not yet tried homemade pudding, then you are about to have an exhilarating experience. The rich flavors of vanilla, egg, and heavy cream intertwined with fresh sliced bananas, cinnamon brown sugar crumble, and whipped cream just take your breath away. This is a favorite tea time dessert for me, especially in spring, and it pairs so well with the recipe from our ebook, Tea at Beatrix’s!
what is pudding?
The term pudding has many different meanings. In some places, like the United Kingdom, pudding is a general term for a dessert. This is usually a sweet of a soft, spongy, or thick creamy consistency. In the USA, a pudding is a thick creamy custard usually made with cornstarch. There are also savory puddings like steak and kidney pudding or corn pudding, which have a grain base and are cooked in fat like suet.
This Banana Pudding with Graham Cracker Crumbles recipe is more of an American-style pudding, a custard made with milk, cream, and eggs. It is cooked over the stove and then chilled, giving it a nice thick consistency that is then mixed with other fillings and toppings. The end result is a delightful trifle of sweetness, perfect for a Beatrix Potter themed tea party!
ingredients to make banana pudding:
To make this Beatrix Potter inspired Banana Pudding, you will need a few key ingredients! This recipe has many parts, but in the end everything comes together in a splendid mixture of banana-flavored goodness!
Egg Yolks. To make custard, one of the main ingredients use are egg yolks. As the eggs cook into the milk, they become thick, creating a velvety texture. Sometimes pudding recipes use cornstarch or arrowroot powder as a thickener, but this one does not need it.
Buttermilk. For a more acidic flavor to pair with the sweetness in this recipe, I chose to use buttermilk as the base. However, if you do not have buttermilk on hand you can simply substitute the amount called for in the recipe with an equal amount of milk.
Heavy Cream. Heavy cream is used in many parts of this recipe, including the custard itself and the whipped cream topping!
Graham Crackers. Banana pudding traditionally uses vanilla wafer cookies for a crunchy, cookie layer in between the custard and bananas. I chose to make a more simplified homemade substitute that comes together in a few minutes rather than baking a batch of cookies. Though you can certainly bake some, if you like!
Bananas. It is banana pudding, after all! You will want some ripe bananas for this recipe, though I would not suggest using browned bananas.
Raspberries. To finish off these puddings, I styled them with some fresh raspberries. You do not have to use these, but they sure do add a lovely pop of color!
farm fresh eggs:
Do you have to use fresh eggs to make homemade pudding? In most cases, the fresher the egg, the better the final result of whatever you are baking or cooking. We are very fortunate to have been raising laying hens for the last nine years (I cannot believe that it has been that long, honestly!).
Fresh egg yolks are higher in lecithin, making them better emulsifiers. This creates a smoother, creamier texture to your pudding. The fresh eggs also have a greater impact on the final flavor of the pudding, making it richer.
Not everyone has access to farm fresh eggs, and that’s okay! You certainly don’t have to use eggs that were laid the same day that you purchased them. However, I would not suggest trying to replace a fresh egg with a powdered egg product to make this dessert.
tools that I used:
This recipe is also accompanied by some lovely tools and dinnerware that I received from a lovely company called Fodory. They created their company, which sells the most beautiful antique inspired kitchen tools, dishes, and more, for food photographers. I think that is just such a fun thing and still am in awe this job exists and provides jobs for others as well.
They were generous enough to send me a few of their products to try out, including this Vintage Wooden Handled Whisk, Antique Transferware Plates, and Vintage Column Ribbed Mug.
I love the transferware plates especially because they are reproduction, meaning that they are perfectly safe to use! While I love collecting true antique plates, many of them have traces of lead on them so they are not safe for daily use. We test all of our dishes with at home lead tests, and I am thankful for my husbands background as a chemistry professor to look into what we purchase!
recipe notes:
To make this Banana Pudding recipe, here are a few tips to help everything go smoothly during the baking process!
Scald the milk, don’t boil it. Be careful to watch your milk as you warm it up. You do not want the milk to boil, but rather be scalded. You will know it is ready when little bubbles begin to form around the edges of the pan. When this happens, immediately remove your pan from the heat.
Do not add the sugar too early. If you whisk the egg yolks and sugar together and then let them sit for too long, this can cause the eggs to become grainy. Wait to beat the yolks and sugar together until just before you incorporate them into the hot milk.
Watch your heat. While the custard cooks, you are waiting for it to thicken slightly. This only takes a few minutes, if cooked over low to medium-low heat. If the heat is too high, you will begin to scramble the eggs and be left with a lumpy mess. You may still cook some of the egg, even if you do everything right, which is why you strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve!
final thoughts:
This Banana Pudding with Graham Cracker Crumbles recipe is so easy to make and is absolutely delicious with its layers of homemade vanilla pudding, sweet ripe bananas, and buttery graham cracker crust. While making homemade pudding takes more patience to make, its well worth the effort. Plus you learn a new baking skill, if this is your first time giving it a try! Banana pudding is a wonderful make ahead dessert that you can keep stored in the refrigerator for several days, ready to serve to your tea party guests! It’s the perfect Beatrix Potter inspired recipe.
xoxo Kayla
Banana Pudding with Graham Cracker Crumbles
Ingredients
- 8 egg yolks
- 2 1/2 cups (500 g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (42 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 2 1/2 cups (600 ml) buttermilk
- 2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream
- 1/4 cup (58 g) salted butter, sliced
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) vanilla extract
- 2 cups (240 g) graham cracker crumbs
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) melted salted butter, slightly cooled
- 4 cups (960 ml) heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 5-6 medium bananas, sliced
- Fresh raspberries, for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the yolks turn a pale yellow and become thick and syrupy. They should leave a trace for a few seconds before sinking back into the egg mixture when the whisk is held over the bowl. Whisk in the flour and salt, then set the bowl aside.
- In a large saucepan, warm the buttermilk and heavy cream until it begins to just simmer around the edges of the pan. It should be hot to the touch but not boiling.
- Pour about 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture, whisking as you pour. Completely incorporate the cream into the egg mixture to temper the eggs. Then, pour the egg mixture into the pot of hot cream. Whisk the mixture over medium-low heat until the custard begins to thicken slightly, or until it can coat the back of a wooden spoon without falling off, about 6-8 minutes. Be careful not to boil nor simmer the custard.
- Remove the pan from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla until the butter has completely melted, about 2 minutes.
- Pour the custard into a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap touching the surface of the custard so that it does not form a skin. Allow the custard to cool completely in the fridge, about 3 hours. If you are short on time, you can speed up the chilling process by placing the custard in a stainless steel bowl sitting in a larger bowl filled with ice. Stir the custard until it is cold, about 10-15 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Pour the melted butter over the mixture and blend together with a wooden spoon until it is well blended, about 2-4 minutes.
- Place the bowl in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- In a large bowl or a standing electric mixer fitted with a whisk, beat the heavy cream and sugar on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. This takes about 6-8 minutes.
- Transfer the whipped cream to a piping bag and simply cut off the end of the piping bag, or use a round piping tip. Refrigerate the whipped cream until ready to use.
- This pudding will fit into a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33-cm) baking pan or about 6 6-inch ramekins or bowls. Lightly grease your vessel of choice.
- Reserve a few banana slices and graham cracker crumbles for decorating the top of your pudding.
- Begin with a layer of graham cracker crumbles. Press about 1/3 of the crumbles into the bottom of your pan. You may want to use a tamper or the bottom of a drinking glass to help press them down.
- Next, add a layer of sliced bananas. Then pour the chilled custard over the bananas. Pipe the whipped cream over the top of the custard.
- Layer the graham cracker crumbles, bananas, custard, and whipped cream 1-2 more times, finishing with a layer of whipped cream.
- Top the whipped cream with the extra banana slices, graham cracker crumbles, and raspberries. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap and chill for at least 8-12 hours or overnight. Serve the pudding chilled.
