 | |
| Type | Cream pie |
|---|---|
| Course | Dessert |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Main ingredients | Bananas, egg custard, whipped cream, pastry or cookie crust |
Banana cream pie is anAmerican dessert pie made with bananas, egg custard and whipped cream.
Bananas "took the American market by storm in the 1880s" according to food historianLynn Olver as quoted by theNew York Times.[1] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first use of 'cream pie' dates to the 1810s.[2]
The dish dates to the end of the 19th century. A recipe for a banana pie, in which sliced bananas were placed into a baked pie crust and baked to soften the bananas, then topped with whipped cream, appeared in the 1901Woman's Exchange Cook Book by Minnie Palmer.[3][4][5] A 1906 recipe inThe Blue Ribbon Cook Book calls for the addition of custard on top of the bananas with no further baking.[3][4]
Classic recipes typically call for fresh bananas and custard in a prebaked pie crust which is then topped with whipped cream.[3][6]
Typically ingredients include apastry crust which has beenblind-baked or agraham cracker crust, which is then filled with bananas and custard or pastry cream (a cooked mixture of milk, sugar, vanilla, eggs, butter) and topped withcrème fraiche orwhipped cream.[5]
The dish is known throughout the US but is most common inMidwestern cuisine andSouthern cuisine.[5] As of 2007 it was also popular in Los Angeles, according to theNew York Times.[5][1] According to the South Florida Reporter it was a favorite of US soldiers in 1951.[4][5]
