Banana Cream Pie

Flaky pie dough for a -1crust pie ; bove Filling: 2 1/2 c Milk

2/3 c Sugar

1 pn Salt

1/3 c Cornstarch

3 lg Eggs

4 tb Unsalted butter; softened

2 ts Vanilla extract

2 lg Bananas; sliced

Topping: 1 c Heavy cream

2 tb Sugar

1 ts Vanilla extract

Prepare and bake the crust. Recipe by: BAKERS' DOZEN (NICK MALGIERI) SHOW #1A16 To make the filling, combine 2 cups milk, sugar and salt in a nonreactive saucepan; whisk once to mix and bring to a boil over low heat. Place remaining 1/2 cup milk in a mixing bowl and whisk in cornstarch, then eggs. Return milk and sugar mixture to a boil over low heat then whisk about a third of it into the egg mixture. Return milk and sugar mixture to a boil once more and whisk in the egg mixture, whisking constantly until the filling thickens and comes to a boil. Allow to boil, whisking constantly, for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat, whisk in butter and vanilla; pour into a nonreactive bowl. Press plastic wrap against the surface of the filling and chill until it is approximately 75 degrees. Fold the bananas into the cooled filling and spread it evenly in the cooled crust. To finish the pie, whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla until it holds a firm peak. Use a hand mixer on medium speed or a heavyduty mixer fitted with the whisk. Spread the cream over the filling, making sure it touches the edges of the crust all around. COCONUT CREAM PIE: For the 2/3 cup sugar in the filling substitute 1/3 cup sugar. Substitute 1/2 cup coconut cream, such as Coco Lopez, for the 1/2 cup milk with which the cornstarch is mixed. After the filling has cooled, fold in 1/2 cup toastedsweetened coconut. After covering the pie with the whipped cream, (you may add up to 1/4 cup coconut cream to the cream before whipping it to replace the sugar) sprinkle the whipped cream with 1/2 cup toasted sweetened coconut. (To toast coconut, place it on a jelly roll pan on the middle rack of a preheated 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Stir often so that the
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