banana pudding

i've recently been trying several of my mom's recipes for the first time.  in this case, i followed up the banana bread with another banana recipe last weekend: banana pudding!

as far as banana puddings go, most seem to be confections full of whipped cream, and i'll admit that i'm not a fan...i'm much more partial to my mom's recipe.  granted, my preference is probably related to the fact that this is what i grew up with...and that growing up with something means other versions aren't generally as good.  but i'm okay with that.

when i was talking to my mom about it, she told me that she learned the pudding recipe during a microwave cooking class she took many moons ago.  and she simply added bananas to it.  simple and easy!

in fact, this only takes about 20 minutes (if that) to make.  and it makes about 8 servings.

ingredients:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups milk
- 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- vanilla wafers
- bananas (not overripe, about 4)

preparation:
combine the sugar, corn starch,, and salt in a two quart bowl.  gradually stir in milk.  microwave for 8 minutes (or until thickened) on medium high, interrupting thet cooking time twice to stir with a wire whisk.  once thickened, stir a little of the hot mix into the egg yolks and then blend the warmed yolks into the hot mix.  microwave 1-1.5 minutes on medium high or until the custard coats a metal spoon and stir well.  stir in butter and vanilla until the butter melts.

while the pudding is cooling, layer whole vanilla wafers at the bottom of a large bowl (my mom always used a large, square corningware dish, but alas, i don't have one the correct size).  the wafers should be all along the bottom and extend up the side (at least part of the way).  slice bananas (as much as you prefer; i used about two), and layer the banana medallions on the wafers.  spoon about half the pudding on top.  add a layer of crushed vanilla wafers.  add another layer of sliced bananas, the rest of the pudding, and more crushed wafers.

you can eat it warm or cold!

verdict:
when i was making the pudding itself, the mixture looked sort of lumpy.  however, its ultimate consistency was fine (no lumps were noticed during taste testing), so i don't think i did anything wrong.

all in all, i was fairly pleased with how i made this pudding.  it wasn't quite as perfect as my mom's, but then again, this was my first attempt.  i also think that part of the problem was that i obtained reduced fat nilla wafers (they were on sale...).  these particular wafers weren't as brittle as i remembered regular nilla wafers; instead of breaking easily/cleanly, they were rather too crunchy.  this tends to make the warm pudding a little less enjoyable because you end up with a whole wafer in your mouth since the spoon/fork won't break the cookie in half.

when cold, however, it works just fine.  fresh out of the fridge, the cookies are adequately softened.  yum!

i wonder whether mixing in pulverized banana chips would be a worthwhile experiment...?