I love pie; it may be my favorite dessert category. I grew up not liking chocolate - I mostly credit or blame my super-chocoholic family. Whenever we would go out to eat, the majority unwaveringly ruled in favor of the most chocolatey, richest item offered. Not being so fond of the brownish-hued delicacy to begin with, you can understand my frustration while facing dinner after dinner followed by molten chocolate cake and brownie fudge sundae and chocolate mousse and triple-chocolate chunk ice cream and double chocolate chip cookies and... Well, you might think I'm crazy; most people do have an odd reaction when I tell them I'm not terribly fond of it. To this day, given the choice between a chocolate sweet and a cocoa-free treat, I'm as likely to pick one as I am to pick the other. I've grown to appreciate chocolate, but I still cannot tolerate dark chocolate; I much prefer white and milk chocolate.
I certainly bake with a lot of chocolate, as you can see, but that's largely due to the fact that 1) our kitchens almost always have chocolate in some form, 2) fruits are rarer in the quantity in which we use them and 3) the universe seems to start salivating when any of the senses detect a hint of chocolate. Even scientifically, the genus of the chocolate tree - Theobroma - translates to "food of the gods." I suppose, every time I make a dessert with chocolate, and my housemates and friends devour their offering, they reach closer to godliness. I believe I can come to terms with that, more or less.
Oh, but I've digressed so far away from the topic of choice - pies - that I must take a moment and breathe deeply and imagine a delectable slice of a lattice-worked, steaming, sugary masterpiece. Fruit pies, in my opinion, are the pinnacle of mouthwateringly-delicious non-chocolate desserts. The flaky crust, the gooey fruity filling, the crunchy top crust, the meringue, the whipped cream, the paired ice cream... I adore it all.
[Oh God, it's now past 2am and I'm so into this post that I'm famished, and the only option for me right now is a flourless chocolate cake made yesterday. If there exists a cake that is more chocolate-y, I've yet to meet it. Even with my blooming tolerance for chocolate, I'm rather terrified of that cake. Someone send me a slice of fruit pie through the interwebs right now!]
Back to pie. Specifically, Banana Meringue Pie. The idea for this came from a good friend, actually. Her mother and brother were coming to visit our area, and her brother had requested a banana pie. Immediately, we were drawn to banana cream pie, but after snooping around on the interwebs, we found a meringue pie. Lemon meringue pie is amazing, both to eat and bake, and despite my inability to properly whip egg whites for anything else, I have had remarkable success making meringue. The filling part is generally more problematic, though, but for this recipe, I increased the cornstarch because the innards are always more liquidy than any pie should be. I was also intrigued yet wary of the separate banana slices and pudding, but I think the end result was rather satisfying. The crust used here is my go-to pie crust recipe, as it's flakey and forgiving and filled with Crisco. If you're not a fan of crisco, butter can be used in its stead, but will of course give you a different taste and consistency.
For the crust:
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour + some for rolling
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon shortening
About 1/4 cup water
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Preheat oven to 375*F.
Mix together flour and salt. Knead in the tablespoons of shortening to the other ingredients until crumbly. Add in the water slowly, while massaging the dough, until it forms a ball. Barely knead the remaining teaspoon of shortening in, so that some streaks of fat still remain; this will make the dough flaky and light.
Roll the ball between two sheets of parchment or waxed paper, or if you're desperate and live in an under-stocked kitchen, plastic wrap will suffice. The dough is pretty easy to work with and rather forgiving, so you should easily be able to make a 12" circle, a standard diameter for a 9" pie. Remove the top sheet, and flip the crust into your pie dish. Press the dough into place, making sure in settles into the pan, and then remove the other sheet. With a knife, remove the excess crust on the edges, and then poke holes in the crust with a little fork. And then hug a spoon, because it's feeling lonely and left out of the utensil-love.
Bake the pie for 10-15 minutes, until it's a light golden brown.
For the filling:
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3/8 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks, beaten (reserve the whites for later, they'll go into the meringue)
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla
3 ripe to overripe bananas, peeled and sliced in 1/4 inch segments
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Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, and milk in large sauce pot. Whisk together and cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and slowly releases the bubbles. Cook on low for another two to three minutes. Pour a small portion of the milk mixture into the beaten egg yolks to temper them; stir together, and then add yolk mixture to remaining milk mixture. Return the pot to medium-low heat for two to three minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and add in butter and vanilla, stirring until smooth and well-combined.
Cover the crust's bottom with a single layer of bananas, and scoop a small portion of the pudding - enough to fill the spaces between the bananas and barely cover the bananas - into the crust. Add another layer of bananas, and once more scoop a bit of pudding on top. Continue until out of pudding or near the top of the crust (leave at least 1/8 of an inch of crust exposed, so that the meringue can fill the space and form a seal). If you end up with extra bananas, layer them on top of the pudding and gently press down. Set aside the pie.
For the meringue:
Ingredients:
4 egg whites (reserved from earlier, approximately room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
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Preheat oven to 350*F.
Add egg whites to a large mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed until bubbled and frothy; now add the vanilla and cream of tartar. Continue beating until glossiness develops, then slowly add sugar to mixture. Beat another 4 minutes or so, until stiff peaks form - when the still beaters are removed from the batter, the shape is maintained. It's important not to overbeat the meringue, as it then has the potential to collapse, but I've never had serious issues with pies failing. Yet.
With a rubber spatula, cover the pie with the meringue mixture. Be sure to completely cover the pudding, 'sealing' it in with the meringue and the crust's edge. I like to create a gentle curve, and then I take the spatula and gently 'slap' the whipped egg whites to create the peaks characteristic of meringue pies. Repeat this a few times (don't overdo it!) until small peaks cover the pie.
Slide pie carefully into oven and bake 12-15 minutes, turning once. When the meringue has turned lightly golden at the tips, remove and cool to room temperature, then move to refrigerator. Keep uncovered to prevent the meringue from weeping; if it does, don't fret too much. I think the caramel-colored tears are actually quite pretty and tasty. Maybe that's just me, though.
Apologies for the lack of photos! As I mentioned, I made these with a friend for her family, and so I unfortunately couldn't snag any finished-product photos.
~ The Baker's Apprentice/Chef A
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