GLUTEN-FREE BANANA CREAM PIE WITH MACADAMIA PRALINE

Written by Published on in desserts, Gluten-Free, pie, Recipes

When The Professor and I spend an entire day in the kitchen testing recipes or doing what we call ‘batch cooking’ where we make dishes ahead, we play a game called ‘Kitchen Jenga’ – or ‘how high can we pile dishes in the drainer before one of us pulls out a single piece and everything comes tumbling down.’ And that ‘someone’ is usually me.

kitchenMost of the time, we work in the kitchen ‘clean’ – meaning, clean as you go, wiping counters, spills as they happen, rinsing/washing dishes as we go – hence the Jenga game. I use the word ‘we’ loosely because The Professor gets in his zone and can work in a postage-stamp-sized area to get the job done – dirty dishes, boxes and bags of ingredients opened and spread from one end of the kitchen to the other. I, on the other hand, need my work space clear so that I can lay out my mise en place, knives clean and sharp with counters as clear as possible. When The Professor is in the kitchen by himself, every pot and pan, kitchen utensil, knife, fork and spoon available to him will be used; I tend to use a single knife for chopping, dicing, peeling – a single pot or skillet, etc. And I’ve talked with other couples who say that this scenario means the kitchen becomes a source of conflict and that usually means someone (read – husbands) are banned from the kitchen.

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What makes it work for us is that we both understand and accept how the other is wired and we usually divide up the components at hand; I know his prep area won’t look like mine but I also know that at the end of the meal he’ll be in the kitchen with me, helping to put it back in order – and the bottom line is this: I’d prefer to be in the kitchen with The Professor than be in the kitchen without him. We enjoy the dance and art of putting a meal together – sometimes with a more complicated recipe than others, but at the end of the day, cooking is still a creative process; music plays, gluten-free beer or wine sipped and sometimes we even dance . . .

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Of course it doesn’t hurt that said recipe is Banana Cream Pie . . .

GLUTEN FREE BANANA CREAM PIE WITH PRALINE
Makes 1, 9-inch pie

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE PIE:

  • 1-¼ cups gluten-free graham cracker crumbs (made from purchased gluten-free graham crackers)
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons corn starch
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 ½ cups whole milk, no substitutions please
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 bananas

FOR THE MACADAMIA NUT PRALINE:
Slightly adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream At Home 
Makes about 1 cup

  • 1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • pinch of cinnamon

FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM:

  • 2-3/4 cups heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch kosher salt

 METHOD:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup of butter in a mixing bowl and combine with a fork until butter is blended and mixture looks like course (mealy) crumbs
  2. Pour the mixture into a 9 inch pie pan and press the crumbs until you have and even crust up the sides and bottom of the pie pan
  3. Bake the crust until it is beginning to brown and is set – 5-10 minutes; remove from the oven and cool
  4. Combine corn starch, 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks, cinnamon, vanilla and salt in a mixing bowl; whisk until combined
  5. Place the milk into a sauce pan and bring it to a boil over medium high heat; whisking the egg mixture continuously, slowly add a cup of hot milk and continue to whisk until blended. Now add the egg mixture back into the milk pan and place it back over the heat
  6. Stirring constantly, allow the pudding come to a boil and cook until thickened; remove from heat and whisk in the butter
  7. Pour the hot pudding into a bowl set over an ice bath; stir to cool the pudding completely
  8. Slice the bananas and layer them onto the pie crust; pour cooled pudding over the bananas
  9. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding and refrigerate the pie for at least two hours or more (overnight is better, but hey, it’s pie, right??)

METHOD FOR THE PRALINE: (make this ahead, after you’ve baked the crust)

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F
  2. Combine the nuts with the remaining ingredients in a bowl, tossing to coat
  3. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. Stir and bake for another 5 to 6 minutes, stirring twice; the nuts should look bubbly and somewhat dry
  4. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, stirring the nuts every couple of minutes to break them up

METHOD FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM:

  1. With a stand mixer or a hand mixer whip the cream until it begins to thicken
  2. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt – whip to soft peaks
  3. Break up or chop the praline
  4. Scoop the whipped cream onto the pie, top with the chopped praline and serve

 

One Comment

  1. Amy
    April 18, 2013 at 11:05 am  ·  Reply

    Y’all sound very much like us. But, like you, I’d rather deal with a mess than not have him there.

    Nice pie!

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