TWD: Banana Cream Pie

Spilled milk...check. Overwhipped whipped cream...check. Obscenities...check. A delicious and yummy pie well worth the trouble...um...not really. This week Amy of Sing for Your Supper picked the recipe (Check out her blog for the full recipe). I have always loved banana cream pie so I was excited to make this. The baking of this pie, however, turned into quite a production. The pie was good but not great and with the amount of work required I won't be making it again. I planned on making the pie on Saturday but realized I had no tinfoil after making the dough. I put the dough in the refrigerator until I could pick some up. I only used butter in the dough and omitted the shortening due to my irrational fear of shortening. I had some trouble with shrinkage and my dad complained that the crust was really hard. I don't know if this was because of using only butter or if this is just how this crust is. With the extra pie dough I made one of my grandma's little treats. I rolled out the extra dough, buttered it, then sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on top.

My pastry cream turned into a bit of a kitchen nightmare. I put the milk on the stove to boil and tried to be careful to make sure it didn't scald. Of course I turn my back for a couple of minutes and it boiled over onto the burner leaving me with a lovely puddle of burned milk and a really nice smell. I fortunately read the P&Q's on Tuesdays with Dorie so when I put the pastry cream on the stove I knew it would thicken all-of-a-sudden so I was prepared. As soon as it got thick I took it off the heat and whisked it like crazy until my arm was too tired to whisk anymore.

Another kitchen mishap occurred when I was slowly adding the milk to the pastry cream mix. Instead of pouring into the pan the milk decided to spill down the side of the measuring cup onto the counter, then stream onto the dishwasher, and end in a puddle on the floor. My sister was nice enough to stop laughing long enough to snap a couple pictures.

After making the pastry cream I covered it in plastic wrap and left it in the fridge while I went birthday present shopping for my hubby. When my sister and I got back from shopping we decided a margarita was required. Note to self: do not try to make a whipped cream topping after finishing a strong margarita. I again turned my back on my whipped cream while it was thickening. When I remembered my whipped cream it was on its way to becoming butter but I think I saved it in time. It still tasted good. The pie assembly went okay with no major mishaps. The pie itself set up great and really held its shape after cutting.

Here is my little sister, Melanie, modeling the finished pie. I don't know which is sweeter, her or the pie.

Long story short, the pie was good but not worth all the work and mess. I'm partial to my grandma's banana cream pie recipe which has a meringue topping and no cinnamon in the pastry cream. I think I'll stick with my grandma's recipe from now on.

For some nonbaking fun, here are some photos of our darling pup, Willa, enjoying herself on the hike we took in Sunol this weekend. She decided she had to play in the cow pond which meant she ended the day in the bathtub.

Some wildflower photos and the hubby with Willa performing the end-of-the-hike ritual, the tick check.

Baking soundtrack:

Daylight - Matt & Kim