Warm Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Food

SALTED-CARAMEL BANANA PUDDING

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine milk, vanilla pudding mix, and sweetened condensed milk. Whisk thoroughly, breaking up any lumps, and refrigerate for at least 5 minutes, or until set.
• In another large bowl, combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Beat until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside half of the mixture for topping the dish. Fold remaining half into the pudding mixture, along with ⅓ cup caramel.
• Cover the bottom of a 3-quart trifle dish with vanilla wafers. Top with 1/3 of the pudding mixture. Cover with another layer of wafer cookies-you may want to also stand up some cookies vertically, so you see the full circle along the edge of the trifle dish. Top with an even layer of banana slices, then drizzle caramel on top. Sprinkle on sea salt. Continue layering the pudding, wafer cookies, banana slices, caramel, and salt until you reach the top, ending with a final layer of banana pudding.
• Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or up to overnight.
• Just before serving, dollop whipped cream on top of the banana pudding, then sprinkle crumbled wafer cookies on top.

SALTED CARAMEL-BANANA BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Make the caramel: Combine the sugar and 1/4 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring just until the sugar dissolves. Cook, gently swirling the pan but not stirring, until amber, about 10 minutes. Brush any sugar crystals off the side of the pan with a wet pastry brush. Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the butter, heavy cream, bourbon, lemon juice and kosher salt (the mixture will bubble). Pour into a bowl and set aside.
• Make the bread pudding: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Spread the bread cubes on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry and golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely.
• Whisk the eggs, sugar and kosher salt in a large bowl, then whisk in the milk, heavy cream and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the toasted bread and the banana slices. Transfer half of the mixture to the prepared baking dish and spread in an even layer. Drizzle with 1/2 cup of the caramel, then top with the remaining bread mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. Cover and refrigerate the remaining caramel until ready to serve.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle the bread pudding with sea salt and bake until golden brown and set, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Warm the remaining caramel and drizzle on top.

WARM BANANA PUDDING

Steps:

• Custard base: Heat whole milk, half and half, vanilla, and vanilla bean in a large saucepan until bubbles start forming around the edge of the pan. Remove from heat and set aside. Place egg yolks and 2 cups of sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour to the egg mixture on low just to incorporate. With the mixer on, slowly pour about a cup of the custard base from the saucepan into the egg mixture-this "tempering" will keep the eggs from cooking. Pour the tempered mixture through a fine mesh strainer into the saucepan (to smooth out any remaining lumps). Stir to combine, then fish out the vanilla bean. Split it open lengthwise, then use the back of a knife to scrape out the seeds. Return seeds and the scraped pod to the saucepan.
• Heat the custard mixture over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with heat-resistant spatula until thickened. (If the custard turns lumpy, turn off the heat and whisk until it's smooth again.) Whisk in salt and butter until smooth, then remove the vanilla bean pod and discard. To make it super-smooth, blend with an immersion blender until shiny. Set aside.
• Assembly: Slice the pound cake into 1/2-inch-thick slices and set aside. Pour 1/3 of the custard into a casserole dish to cover the bottom. Add the cake in a single layer, breaking slices up so they all fit. Brush cake with coffee, then add half of the bananas. Press the ingredients down so they're even, then repeat with more custard, cake slices, coffee, and bananas, finishing with a final layer of custard.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Put egg whites, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Start the mixer on low (to avoid spatters), gradually raise speed to high to make sure the ingredients are combined, and then reduce to medium until soft peaks form. Spread meringue evenly over the banana pudding, then bake 5-6 minutes until the top is golden brown. Let cool several minutes, and serve warm.

BANANA-CARAMEL PUDDING

Steps:

• To make the pudding:
• Whisk the eggs with the vanilla in a large bowl and set aside. Bring the milk, heavy cream, sugar, and salt to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat and whisk a little of the hot liquid into the egg mixture. Continue adding more hot milk until the eggs are tempered and the bottom of the bowl is warm to the touch and then return the egg mixture to the saucepan with the remaining milk. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or whisk, until the pudding thickens and you can draw a clear line through the custard on the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes (don't let the custard boil--this will cause the eggs to curdle). Pour the custard through a medium sieve and into a medium bowl. Whisk to cool slightly, cover flush with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until it is completely cool, about 2 hours.
• To make the caramel sauce:
• Microwave together the butter, heavy cream, and salt until the butter is melted (or melt the butter with the cream and salt in a small saucepan). Whisk to combine and set aside. Place the sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Melt the sugar over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally to evenly distribute the heat, until the sugar is a deep nutty brown and smells bittersweet, 10 to 12 minutes. Pour in the butter mixture (be careful-the sauce will hiss and bubble up) and then place the mixture back over medium-high heat to return it to a boil. Turn off the heat and set the saucepan aside to let the caramel cool to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours.
• To make the whipped cream:
• Place the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla (if using a vanilla bean, split the pod and scrape out the seeds, adding them to the cream; save the pod and place it in a jar of sugar to infuse it with vanilla flavor) in the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl if using a hand mixer) and whip it on medium speed until it is frothy. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip until you get stiff peaks. Refrigerate until you're ready to assemble the pudding.
• To assemble:
• Peel and thinly slice the bananas and set aside (wait to slice the bananas until you're ready to assemble the dish, otherwise, they'll brown). Evenly spread 1 cup whipped cream over the bottom of a large trifle dish or punch bowl. Top with a layer of bananas and 1 cup/240 ml pudding. Place about 20 wafers in a flat layer on top of the pudding and evenly drizzle 1/2 cup/120 ml caramel over the wafers. Repeat the layering process three times beginning with the whipped cream, followed by some sliced bananas, pudding, wafers, and caramel. Finish the pudding with a final layer of whipped cream (you should have about 1 cup remaining after repeating four layers), cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight. Serve in dessert bowls.

SALTED CARAMEL BANANA PUDDING PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Put the vanilla wafers in a food processor and pulse until the cookies are finely crushed. Reserve 1/2 cup to layer in and to top the pie. Pour the remaining crumbs in a 9-inch pie plate. Pour the melted butter over the top and, using a spoon or your hands, combine the ingredients. Press the mixture in the bottom and up the sides and onto the lip of the pie plate. Bake until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Peel and slice the bananas, adding them to a bowl. Stir the salt into the caramel sauce and toss the banana slices with the salted caramel. Arrange some banana slices evenly over the bottom of the crust. Spread half of the warm Vanilla Pudding over the bananas, top with some more crushed vanilla wafers (reserving some for garnish) and more caramel-coated bananas. Spread the remaining Vanilla Pudding over the top.
• In a large bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Add the almond extract and sugar and beat until peaks form. Make sure not to overbeat, or the cream will become lumpy and butter-like. Spread the whipped cream over the pie. Just before serving, garnish with a caramel swirl and the rest of the crushed vanilla wafers.
• Combine the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. This is the only time you can stir the sugar. If you stir it while it's cooking, it turns to rock candy. Place the saucepan over medium to low heat until the sugars start to dissolve, 5 to 10 minutes. Then turn the heat up to medium-high and cook until the sugar starts to caramelize, 5 to 7 minutes. Do not stir while this is happening. You've got to watch the pot, because it goes from caramel to burnt really quickly. And be careful, the mixture is extremely hot!
• Turn off the heat and stand back to avoid splattering. Slowly add the cream. Don't panic - the cream will bubble violently, and the caramel will solidify. Just give it more time to liquefy again-trust me!
• Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits.
• 3 cups.
• In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour until all of the lumps are gone. Once it is a fine powder, whisk in the egg yolks and whole eggs and continue whisking until a smooth paste is formed. Slowly whisk in 1 cup milk, and once this is incorporated add the remaining 1 cup milk. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it reaches the thickness of chilled pudding, 10 to 15 minutes. (Mixture will just begin to bubble and will be thick enough to hold soft peaks when the whisk is lifted.) Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

LIGHTENED UP BANANA PUDDING

Steps:

• Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan; whisk in the milk until smooth. Heat over medium-high heat, whisking, until bubbles begin to form. Remove from the heat.
• Whisk the egg in a medium bowl. Slowly pour 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg while whisking vigorously; whisk until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, whisking vigorously, until thick and starting to bubble, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, whisk in the sour cream and vanilla and let cool until thick, whisking frequently.
• Cut the bananas into thin slices. Layer a few banana slices, a few wafer pieces and 2 tablespoons of the prepared pudding in each of 4 glasses; repeat the layering once and then top with a final layer of pudding. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

BILL'S BANANA CARAMEL SELF-SAUCING PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
• Sift flour, salt, sugar, baking powder into bowl.
• Add banana, milk, butter, egg, vanilla extract.
• Whisk until well combined.
• Pour into 2.5 litre baking dish.
• To make the topping, place brown sugar, suryp, water in small pot.
• Bring to the boil.
• Pour mixture careflly over the pudding.
• Bake 35 minutes.
• Serve with vanilla ice cream.