Banana cream pie

Banana cream pie is an American dessert pie made with bananas, egg custard and whipped cream.

Banana cream pie

Type	Cream pie
Course	Dessert
Place of origin	United States
Main ingredients	Bananas, egg custard, whipped cream, pastry or cookie crust
Media: Banana cream pie

History and background

Bananas "took the American market by storm in the 1880s" according to food historian Lynn Olver as quoted by the New York Times.^[1] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first use of 'cream pie' dates to the 1810s.^[2]

The dish dates to the end of the 19th century. A recipe for a banana pie, in which sliced bananas were placed into a baked pie crust and baked to soften the bananas, then topped with whipped cream, appeared in the 1901 Woman's Exchange Cook Book by Minnie Palmer.^[3][4][5] A 1906 recipe in The Blue Ribbon Cook Book calls for the addition of custard on top of the bananas with no further baking.^[3][4]

Classic recipes typically call for fresh bananas and custard in a prebaked pie crust which is then topped with whipped cream.^[3][6]

Ingredients and assembly

Close-up view of a slice of banana cream pie

Typically ingredients include a pastry crust which has been blind-baked or a graham cracker crust, which is then filled with bananas and custard or pastry cream (a cooked mixture of milk, sugar, vanilla, eggs, butter) and topped with crème fraiche or whipped cream.^[5]

Popularity

The dish is known throughout the US but is most common in Midwestern cuisine and Southern cuisine.^[5] As of 2007 it was also popular in Los Angeles, according to the New York Times.^[5][1] According to the South Florida Reporter it was a favorite of US soldiers in 1951.^[4][5]

Variations

• Banoffee pie, a British version which adds toffee^[4]
• Black bottom banana pie, in which a layer of chocolate -- the black bottom -- is placed on the crust before adding the bananas^[4]

Similar dishes

• Banana pudding, a dish in Southern cuisine in which bananas are layered over vanilla wafers, then topped with custard and often whipped cream.

References

1. Steinhauer, Jennifer (14 January 2007). "L.A.'s Top Banana . . ". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 August 2023. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
2. "Cream pie". Oxford English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2024-04-15. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
3. Razon, Kristina (6 June 2022). "Banana Cream Pie". Serious Eats. Archived from the original on 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
4. "The Banana Cream Pie Recipe First Appeared In The 1901 Women's Exchange Cook Book". South Florida Reporter. 2022-03-01. Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
5. Beck, Katherine (2022-09-01). "The 19th Century Origins Of Banana Cream Pie". Tasting Table. Archived from the original on 2023-10-03. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
6. Hamel, P. J. "Banana Cream Pie | King Arthur Baking". King Arthur Baking. Archived from the original on 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2024-04-13.