Southern Homemade banana pudding

I’ve always loved homemade banana pudding above just about all other desserts Mama used to make this and serve it up in her big avocado green mixing bowl. She’d let my sister and me layer the bananas and vanilla wafers when we were younger, giving us a butter knife to cut them with so we couldn’t hurt ourselves, then she’d pour the thick pudding all over the top and let it sit a bit before supper so it had time to soak into all of the wafers. If we let her get it away from us long enough, she’d top it with a perfectly browned meringue The key to the best meringue is to add the sugar while the meringue is still foamy to give it time to dissolve.

pudding
• 1 box vanilla wafers
• 5 bananas
• ½ cup sugar or Splenda
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 egg yolks (reserve the whites for the meringue)
• 2 cups milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Meringue
• 3 egg whites
• ¼ cup sugar

pudding
• Place a layer of vanilla wafers in the bottom of a medium bowl. Slice a banana over the top. Repeat two more times with another layer of wafers and the remaining bananas.
• In a saucepan (or double boiler; see Note), combine the sugar, flour, salt, egg yolks, and milk. Stir well with a wire whisk and place over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, until thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Immediately pour over the wafers and bananas. Let sit for 5 minutes or so to give the wafers time to absorb the pudding.
• Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Make the meringue:
• In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Add the sugar and continue beating on high speed until soft peaks form. Pour onto the top of the pudding and spread to the edges to seal well. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the top is golden. Allow to cool completely before serving (refrigerate if you wish).

Note: Using a double boiler ensures that your custard won’t scorch and is great if you want to be on the safe side. Having said that, I never use a double boiler. I just use a saucepan placed over medium-low heat and keep a close eye on it. I like to walk on the wild side that way.

8 servings