back from a little break
on traditions, lineage and banana cream pudding
I have taken a little break from writing to have some time to rest and relax and not to have the burden of trying to be creative every other week. As a naturally uncreative person, this is liberating. Cooking comes to me naturally like a dream and requires the creativity of being able to know how to turn the stove on.
When it is this hot, cooking is still the only thing I want to do. I want to bake a cake or grill chicken. I want to pit cherries and chop onions, sweat and all. But when I need to fuel creativity, I need to shut off part of my brain to start another. And writing this I needed to prepare for a chance at articulating my thoughts on banana pudding.
Growing up, I never realized I had no traditions. I always knew that other people had them but never put any thought into any of our own. The thought of the same people, every year doing the same thing at the same time without interruption, was - is - foreign to me. The thoughts were made clear over the holiday, a time when I simply had nothing to do (was my plan all along) and over the past few years I have made an unknown effort to change that. Slowly finding small things to be consistent about, going to the same roadside stand to find cherries that were baking in the sun or to go to the annual book sale at the library. All traditions that I had started making myself.
All this succeeded in the self-sabotage of not living life to the fullest. Not being able to put a legacy to the name. I could not imagine living life as a royal, having my lineage go back 1,000 years to a man who sailed the English Channel only for my ancestor and heir to become a podcast host. These are not normal thoughts for people and I am learning that. People go on with their days not putting any thought into how they will be remembered or how their names will last beyond them. It is a practice that is archaic but lost, but I am never able to lose it. It has become the focus of my life to make sure there is a reason to keep going.
All to say, whether it’s the dirty cherries, the library cleanouts or this banana cream pudding - I am deadest on having my traditions and hopefully nourishing it to live on.
Banana Cream Pudding
Ingredients
For the custard
3 cups of whole milk | 732g
¾ cups of white sugar | 150g
⅓ cup of corn starch | 96g
½ tsp of kosher salt
4 large eggs | 200g
For the cream
8oz Mascarpone cheese - room temperature
1 ¾ cup of heavy cream - cold | 400g
½ cup of white sugar | 100g
Kosher salt
3-4 ripe bananas
One box, 11oz, vanilla cookies
Whipped cream for topping
Instructions
In a medium to large saucepan, add in the whole milk and place over medium low heat while you make the custard base.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and cornstarch, then whisk until it is lump free.
Add in the eggs and salt, then wish vigorously until the mixture lightens in color, thickens and increases in volume, around 2-5 minutes.
Once the milk reaches a simmer (make sure not to boil the milk) remove the pan from the heat and using a ⅓ measuring cup, add the warm milk into the custard mixture whisking simultaneously. Repeat this process 2-3 times until the mixture comes to temperature.
Return the warmed custard to the rest of the milk in the saucepan and reheat the mixture over medium low heat.
Whisking consistently, cook the custard until it comes to a boil and continues to boil for an additional 60-90 seconds. Once the custard has thickened and comes to a boil, remove it from the heat and then pour it into a large bowl.
Cover the mixture with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard and allow it to cool to room temperature. Then place it in the fridge to chill for an additional 10-12 hours.
To make the cream
Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the mascarpone and sugar together until lightened in texture, then add in the heavy cream. Whip the mixture until the cream forms strong, stiff peaks (holds its peak when inverted). Season with a pinch of salt.
To Assemble
In any bowl, layer in this order - cookie, custard, banana, cream. A single layer of each until all the cookies are used. Any extra custard can be frozen and used later.
