Need a dessert that will “wow” the crowd at your 4th of July BBQ? Look no further than this award-winning patriotic banana cream pie.
I once entered a pie contest in my town for the 4th of July. The only rule was that you needed to include strawberry as an ingredient. Everyone knows that strawberry and banana make a delicious combo. If you don’t like banana – you could substitute any kind of cream-based pie.
My pie won 3rd place out of 16 pies and I was pretty happy to be on the podium. After the contest was over, the judges sold the slices from the pies for $1.00 to be donated back to the town. The winning pies disappeared fast!
Strawberry Banana Cream Pie
This recipe was adapted from the Betty Crocker cookbook.
Ingredients:
- Pastry for one-crust pie
- Two large bananas
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon vanilla plus 1 teaspoon
- 1 cup sweetened whipped cream
- 2 cups strawberries
- 1/2 cup blueberries
Directions:
- Prepare and bake a pastry for a one-crust pie. If you make enough for two crusts, you can freeze the other. The pie crust recipe I like to use is shortening-based, but you can also use butter. After it’s baked, slice two large bananas into the bottom of the pie crust.
- Beat egg yolks with a fork in a medium bowl; set aside. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in 2-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.
- Immediately stir at least half of the hot mixture gradually into egg yolks, then stir back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into pie crust over the bananas. Press plastic wrap on filling to prevent a tough layer from forming on top. Refrigerate at least 2 hours until set.
American Flag Decoration:
- Remove plastic wrap. Cut strawberries into triangles, with the skin of the strawberries remaining on one edge.
- Beginning at the bottom of the pie, make a row of strawberries, then a row of whipped cream. You can pipe the whipped cream through a cake decorating tip, or just use a sandwich bag by filling the bag with whipped cream and cutting a small piece from the corner of the bottom of the bag. Then squeeze the whipped cream through.
- Once you get to where the stars on the American flag would be, use blueberries to fill in the space. Finish the rows of strawberries and whipped cream.
