Roasted Banana Cream Pie – Intense Bananalicious Flavor

I love bananas. I swear I could go through a huge case of them by myself. So it is no surprise that I like banana cream pie.

Sadly, I can never leave well enough alone. I have to fix everything. Improve it. Play with it. Push it. See where it can go.

Roasting caramelizes the sugars in the food and intensifies the flavor whether it is a roast or a banana. (See where I am going with this?) When I bite into a piece of banana cream pie I want texture… creamy, rich. I want flavor… strong vanilla, intense banana. In this recipe I managed to create both. Think of it as a banana cream pie on steroids… Nothing delicate about it; just pure silky, smooth yummiliciousness washing across your palate bite after bite.

Yep.

Use ripe bananas for this and try to slice them in uniform sizes or you may end up with banana mush for some of them. I added toasted pecans for texture and flavor to make this the best banana cream pie I have made to date. Seriously.

How can you resist?

Roast Banana Cream Pie

: roasting brings out the sweetness of these bananas

3 large, ripe bananas, sliced
2 cups toasted chopped pecans
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 cup sugar + 1/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 baked 9 -inch pie crust

Preheat the oven to 375
Place the sliced bananas on a lightly greased cookie sheet and roast for 20 minutes or until light golden.
Meanwhile whisk milk, cream, 1 cup of sugar, egg yolks, and flour together until smooth.
Microwave the milk mixture on high for 9 minutes or until thick. Stir every minute.
Stir in the butter and vanilla until blended.
Lay the roasted bananas carefully in the bottom of the cooked crust.
Sprinkle half the pecans over the bananas
Spoon the custard over the bananas.
Grease a piece of plastic wrap and lay it over the pie, greased side down.
Chill for 3 hours.
Remove pie from refrigerator.
Beat heavy cream until soft peaks form
Beat in 1/4 cup sugar or sweeten to taste.
Spread over pie and sprinkle with pecans.