Old Fashioned Banana Pudding

By carolync

Ingredients

• Meringue:
• Old Fashioned Banana Pudding
• 3 cups of whole Milk
• 1/4 cup of All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup of Sugar
• 3 Eggs, separated (yolks for custard, white for meringue)
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla Extract
• 1 full box of Vanilla Wafers
• 5-6 - ripe Bananas, sliced
• 1/8 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
• 1/4 cup of Sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Separate 3 eggs, set the whites aside for later use in the meringue. Break up yolks with a fork and set aside.

Add 3 cups of whole milk to a saucepan. Over low heat, slowly add the flour, whisking very rapidly to dissolve any lumps. Then stir in sugar continuing to whisk until that dissolves. Next, slowly add the egg yolks to the saucepan, whisking rapidly and continually to avoid making scrambled eggs. Make sure you do not add them too quickly or they will cook and curdle and don't walk away or the mixture will scorch. Keep stirring.

Increase the heat gradually up to about medium as you constantly whisk the pudding mixture. Continue to stir it constantly as it thickens. When it has thickened enough to look like pudding, remove from heat, add the teaspoon of vanilla and continue to stir as it cools down. Set aside to cool.

When custard has cooled down, spread a light layer of the pudding in a casserole dish. Add a layer of Vanilla Wafers. Reserve about 5 or 6 wafers for topping later.
Add a layer of sliced bananas. Add a layer of pudding mixture, spreading it out to the edges of the dish. Repeat the layer process as needed, ending with a layer of the pudding on top. Crumble the 5 or 6 reserved wafers and sprinkle on top. Make the meringue.

Meringue
Place the room temperature egg whites in a glass or metal mixing bowl. Using a mixer or whisk, beat the egg whites until they appear frothy in texture. Add about 1/8th teaspoon of Cream of Tartar. Increase mixer speed and beat until the egg whites form soft peaks.

Add the sugar. Continue to whip, increasing speed as needed until the egg whites thicken and form firm peaks. Do not over work the egg whites as it will cause them to lose volume.

Use a spatula and gently spread the meringue over the pudding mixture. Gently dab the spatula up and down in the meringue to form small swirls and peaks.

Place the dish in the preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Watch it carefully so the egg white meringue doesn't burn. It just needs to be slightly toasted and browned. Remove from oven, let cool, refrigerate until cold then serve. Enjoy!