Banana Cream Pie with Whole Grain Chocolate Crust

Name: Banana Cream Pie with Whole Grain Chocolate Crust
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 0.5 cup sugar; 2 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour; 2 tbsp cornstarch; 0.25 tsp salt; 3 cup whole milk; 4 large egg yolks; 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise; 0.25 cup unsalted butter, diced; 1 tbsp dark rum; 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour; 0.33 cup bittersweet chocolate chips; 0.25 cup unbleached bread flour; 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder; 2 tbsp sugar; 0.25 tsp baking powder; 0.25 tsp salt; 0.5 cup chilled unsalted butter, diced; 2 tbsp orange juice; 1 tbsp ice water; 0.5 tsp vanilla extract; 1 Nonstick vegetable oil spray; 7 bananas , peeled; 1 Additional sugar; 1 Whipped cream; 1 Chocolate sprinkles

From the kitchen of Carly

A classic banana cream pie with serious depth. Whole grain chocolate crust provides nutty contrast to silky vanilla custard spiked with dark rum. Layers of ripe banana and clouds of whipped cream finish what tastes like a fancy bakery dessert but comes together at home.

Banana Cream Pie with Whole Grain Chocolate Crust

Whole grain chocolate crust holds silky vanilla bean custard and fresh banana slices, rum-spiked and rich without being heavy. The crust tastes like chocolate shortbread and stays crisp all the way through because you bake it blind first. This is the pie that makes people ask for the recipe, even though it looks fancier than it is.

Prep: n/a
Cook: n/a
Total: n/a
Servings: 4
Difficulty: medium

Ingredients

4 servings

1/2 cupsugar
2 tbspunbleached all purpose flour
2 tbspcornstarch
1/4 tspsalt
3 cupwhole milk
4 largeegg yolks
1vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/4 cupunsalted butter, diced
1 tbspdark rum
1 cupwhole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cupbittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cupunbleached bread flour
2 tbspunsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbspsugar
1/4 tspbaking powder
1/4 tspsalt
1/2 cupchilled unsalted butter, diced
2 tbsporange juice
1 tbspice water
1/2 tspvanilla extract
1Nonstick vegetable oil spray
7bananas , peeled
1Additional sugar
1Whipped cream
1Chocolate sprinkles

Instructions

In a heavy medium saucepan, whisk the first 4 ingredients together until no lumps remain. Gradually whisk in the milk. Add the yolks and whisk until smoothly blended. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean and drop in the empty bean for extra flavor. Whisk over medium-high heat until the pastry cream thickens and boils a full 1 minute, about 8 minutes total. Pull from the heat and whisk in the butter and rum. Lift out the vanilla bean. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill until firm, at least 4 hours. (Made 1 day ahead works fine; keep chilled.)
Drop the first 7 crust ingredients into a food processor and blend until finely ground. Tip into a large bowl. Use a fork to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a separate small bowl, mix the orange juice, 1 tablespoon of ice water, and vanilla together. Sprinkle this liquid mixture across the chocolate crumb mixture, tossing as you go until the dough begins to clump. If still dry, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time. With floured hands, gather everything into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill the dough at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
Heat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 9 inch diameter glass pie dish (including the rim) with nonstick spray. Roll the chilled dough out between 2 sheets of parchment paper to a 12 inch round. Peel away the top parchment. Using the bottom parchment as a sling, flip the dough into the prepared pie dish. Peel away the remaining parchment. Fold the overhang under and crimp the crust edges decoratively. Pierce the crust all over with a fork and slide into the freezer for 10 minutes.
Line the chilled crust with foil and fill with dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Lift the foil with the beans out. Continue baking until the crust feels dry and firm to the touch, about 10 minutes longer. Cool the crust completely on a rack.
Spread 1 cup of the chilled pastry cream evenly across the bottom of the cooled crust. Slice enough bananas into 1/4 inch thick rounds to cover the cream in overlapping circles. Top with the remaining pastry cream. (Holds 6 hours ahead: cover and chill.)
Slice 3 or more bananas on a slight diagonal into 1/4 inch thick ovals. Fan them in overlapping circles across the top of the pie. Sprinkle with sugar and caramelize, if you like, with a handheld torch. Or skip the torch entirely: cover the bananas with whipped cream, shower with chocolate sprinkles, and garnish with extra banana slices.

Tips from the kitchen

Scrape the vanilla bean pod thoroughly with the knife spine to get all those tiny, precious seeds into the custard. The flavor hit is worth it.
Blind bake the crust all the way until it's dry to the touch and pale brown at the edges. A soggy crust is the only way this pie disappoints.
Layer banana slices directly on the warm custard, not before it cools, so they soften slightly and meld into the filling. Slice them no more than an hour before serving or they'll brown.
If your dough cracks when rolling, don't panic. Patch it with scraps, press down gently, and keep going. Patchwork crusts bake just fine.

Variations

Chocolate lover's swap: Press extra finely grated dark chocolate into the top of the warm custard before it sets, so it melts in slightly.
Coffee version: Add 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder to the pastry cream mixture instead of the rum, or use both.
Booze-free: Skip the rum and add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to the custard instead.
No vanilla bean: Use 1 teaspoon vanilla extract stirred into the finished pastry cream. You lose some perfume but gain convenience.

Make ahead and storage

Keep covered in the fridge up to 2 days. The crust softens slightly on day two but the pie still tastes good. Do not freeze. Whipped cream is best added just before serving.