 |
 |
Happy Pi Day! Let you inner mathie rejoice! As the proud owner of a math degree, of course I have every reason to geek out on 3-14. My coworkers have a neat tradition of bringing in pies to share at the office and I want to contribute with a decadent homemade pie. Despite the onset of daylight saving time and the slowly disappearing snow pile outside my door, winter is still very much on my mind. Fruit pies? Oh puh-lease! Totally the wrong season. Cream pies, however, are just right. They taste decadent but light at the same time, contradictory like March weather. I immediately opened my copy of BAKED Explorations for their Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie.
If you’re a fan of the southern classic banana pudding, you’d love this pie. A Nilla wafer crumb crust is filled with vanilla bean brown sugar custard, sliced bananas, peanut butter cream cheese whipped cream, and salty-sweet candied peanuts. Can you imagine how scrumptious this pie is?
I stayed pretty close to the original recipe except for a few minor changes. Do you notice how the classic vanilla pudding or custard or pastry cream is always made with granulated sugar? While it gives you a clean background to highlight the eggs and vanilla, I decided to experiment with the deeper flavour of dark brown sugar. The custard was a less attractive chestnut colour but the warmth of molasses is a great match of vanilla. It had a hint of caramel or butterscotch which was so becoming. The recipe suggested chocolate-covered peanuts as garnish. It would have been a good choice but I had something else in mind. Remember Candy By Candy? Of course I can come up with a better garnish than store-bought chocolate-covered peanuts.
I thought of David Lebovtiz’s candied peanuts (recipe here). In his book Ready for Dessert, these cinnamon and fleur de sel flecked candied peanuts were used to top a fancy chocolate cake. They would be right at home on top of my Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie. The directions are very similar to another confection I made not long ago, Almond Ding. The cooking was a nail-biter though. The sugar transformed from liquid to sandy to caramelized and syrupy again. I was very concerned when it seemed to remain sandy for an eternity. I was doubtful if it would ever turn liquid. Fortunately, patience paid off and I was rewarded with a batch of freshly roasted peanuts with a light crunchy sugar coating. The final touch of fleur de sel and cinnamon added that indescribable salty sweet balance that I can’t get enough of. I will certainly make this again in near future.
I have made enough recipes from BAKED’s two cookbooks to trust the authors. When I emptied the pile of Nilla crumbs onto my pie plate, I took a double-take. That was a little mountain of crumbs! Even after patting the crumbs down, the crust seemed rather thick and I wasn’t sure there would be enough room for filling. I shouldn’t have worried. The recipe was well-tested and the amount of custard, fruit, and topping filled the pie just right. Kudos to the authors!
How do you celebrate Pi Day? Are you aware of this special day? Pie holds a special place in my heart yet I don’t make them often enough. Which is odd because pies shouldn’t be saved for special occasions when they are so easy to make. Cream pies with a crumb crust, in particular, do not even need me to be skilful in the kitchen. Would you choose a bunch of bananas over a banana cream pie?
