Banana Pudding

This is a recipe that has been passed down from my mom's family. My aunts, granny, and mom have all mastered it, so now it's my turn...and yours! Pay attention to the directions, it's not as simple as it looks. Remember, practice makes delicious!

1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp plain flour
¼ tsp salt
2 cups milk (warmed in microwave)
1 Tbsp butter melted
2 eggs beaten
1-2 tsp vanilla
1 box of Nilla Wafers
4 bananas
9x13 dish

Stir sugar, flour and salt together in a bowl. Add this to a boiler. Once the milk is warmed up in the microwave (so that you won’t scald the milk when you cook it) add the butter to it. Stir the milk into the flour mixture. Start cooking over medium heat (MEDIUM…not hot). Stir with a wooden spoon constantly until the milk thickens. (You will know it’s thickened when it sticks to the spoon).

Beat the eggs in a small bowl using a small whisk. To avoid making scrambled eggs in your pudding, you’ll need to slowly warm them up to the same temp as the custard (aka tampering). Add about a tablespoon of the warm custard to the eggs and continue to whisk. Repeat this until you’ve added about ½ cup of custard to the eggs. NOW stir the custard with the whisk and slowly add in the eggs (reverse of what you were just doing). After it is combined, cook on medium heat. Never heat it past the medium setting on your stove because your milk can curdle and separate if it’s over heated. Then you just have a HOT MESS, and will need to start over. The custard will continue to thicken as you stir and you’ll want it to be the consistency of a soft pudding. Now add the vanilla, (don’t go overboard with it…remember, more is more!)

Now that the custard is done, start layering your 9x13 dish. Start with a single layer of Nilla Wafers. Then slice the bananas and add a single layer. Then pour a layer of custard. Repeat all the way to the top ending with the wafers. It's good to eat right away...even better a day later! (Be sure to refrigerate leftovers of course.)

Note: Add 2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the flour mixture before you start the process and have chocolate pudding. 1 cup of grated coconut with the vanilla to make a coconut custard...

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