Banana Cream Pie

I got this recipe from Joy of Baking and was so eager to bake it after watching the video clip. The steps seem no hassle and so I decided to give it a try. Somehow, things didn't turn out the way it should be. Firstly, I have used the wrong sugar for the crust (Castor sugar instead of icing sugar). Secondly, as I did not have a food processor, I used the mixer to mix the ingredient for shortbread crust and due to over beating, the crust became creamy instead of crumbs. Thirdly, I used the wrong baking pan(without removable bottom) and had difficulty taking out the crust after baking.

It was easy to make the cream and fun to assemble the whole pie. The pie tasted good with the biscuit-like crust and the sweetness of the bananas added a nice finishing touch to this pie. With my Mother-In-Law and glutton-like kids, the pie was gone in 15mins. If I have not made those 3 mistakes, this pie would be a masterpiece.

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust

130g plain flour
35g icing sugar
1/8tsp salt
113g cold unsalted butter(cut into pieces)

Pastry Cream
300ml milk
1tsp vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
50g Castor sugar
20g plain flour
20g corn flour

2-3 large bananas, peeled sliced

Directions

Shortbread Crust

1. Grease 20 - 23 cm tart pan with a removable bottom.
2. Mix flour, sugar, and salt to combine. Add the butter and mix till the pastry starts to come together and form clumps.
3. Place the pastry in the prepared tart pan and, using your fingertips, evenly press the pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. (Can use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface of the pastry.)
4. Pierce the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork. (This will prevent the pastry crust from puffing up while it bakes.)
5. Cover and place the pastry crust in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill. (This will help prevent the crust from shrinking while it bakes.)
6. Preheat oven 220 degrees C and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 13 - 15 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Pastry Cream
1. In a medium-sized heatproof bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together.
2. Combine flour and corn flour together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste.
3. In a saucepan bring the milk to just boiling (just until milk starts to foam up.)
4. Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling.
5. Then pour the egg mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly.
6. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it just becomes thick. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
7. Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool to room temperature before using. If not using right away refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. Whisk or stir before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.

To Assemble
1. Spread pastry cream evenly over cooled crust.
2. Top with sliced bananas.

Note: If Pie is not consumed immediately, suggest to put a glaze over the banana from turning black. Either glaze with boiled jam or sugar syrup.