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Banana cream pie with piped whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top
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5 from 1 vote

The Best Banana Cream Pie

With creamy custard, fresh bananas, and billowy whipped cream, there's nothing more comforting or delicious than the best banana cream pie. 
Prep Time45 minutes
Total Time3 hours
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: banana cream pie
Servings: 10

Ingredients

For the Pastry Cream

  • 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
  • 1 ¾ cups whole milk
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, diced

For the Whipped Cream

  • 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
  • 4 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teas vanilla extract

For Assembling

  • 1 pie crust, baked and cooled
  • 2 to 3 ripe bananas
  • dark chocolate for shaving

Instructions

To Make the Pastry Cream

  • Place the butter in a heat-safe container.  Set aside.
  • Place the vanilla bean seeds, pod, and milk in a medium saucepan.  Heat over medium-low until it begins to simmer.
  • Meanwhile, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks. Stir in the flour and cornstarch until smooth.
  • Temper the hot milk into the egg mixture by whisking in a little bit at a time in order to gradually bring up the temperature of the eggs.  Discard the vanilla bean pod.
  • Return the mixture back to the saucepan and heat over medium-high.
  • While stirring constantly, bring the mixture up to a boil - the cream will be thick and will "pop" slowly. Continue to whisk/cook for about 1 minute after it begins boil.
  • Strain the mixture with a mesh sieve and into the container with the butter.  Stir to combine.
  • Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the surface of the cream. Refrigerate until cool and thick, at least an hour.

To Make the Whipped Cream

  • By hand of with an electric mixer, whip the cream until it begins to thicken.  Add the sugar and whip until soft peaks.  Add the vanilla and whip until medium/firm peaks.  By hand, this will take about 3 to 5 minutes. Do not over-mix.

To Assemble the Pie

  • Fill the baked and cooled pie crust with the prepared pastry cream.  Smooth out with a spatula or the back of a spoon.
  • Slice the bananas into ½-inch thick coins.  Place them in tight concentric circles on top of the pastry cream.
  • Fill a piping bag fitted with a star tip with the whipped cream.  Pipe tight spirals on to top of the bananas to create rosettes.  Continue to pipe piles of cream, or as desired.
  • Using a vegetable peeler, scrape the long edge of a block of chocolate directly over the top of the finished pie to create chocolate shavings.