Banana cream pie in almond crust - bon appetit

Yield: 8 sepvings

Measure Ingredient
6 tablespoons Unsalted butter, room temp.
¼ cup Sugar
1 small Egg, beaten to blend
1 cup All purpose flour
⅔ cup Finely chopped toasted almonds
⅛ teaspoon Baking powder
⅛ teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons Water
1 teaspoon Unflavored gelatin
1 cup Milk (do not use low-fat or nonfat)
1 \N Vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3 larges Egg yolks
⅓ cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
1¾ cup Chilled whipping cream
⅓ cup Powdered sugar
3 \N Ripe bananas, peeled, thinly sliced

CRUST

FILLING

FOR CRUST: Cream butter and sugar in processor until smooth and fluffy. Add egg and blend until smooth. Add flour, almonds, baking powder and salt and process just until combined. Gather dough into ball. Flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let stand briefly at room temperature to soften before continuing.) Press dough into 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish, trimming excess even with edge of dish. Crimp edge decoratively. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350'F. Line crust with foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 12 minutes. Remove beans and foil and bake until crust is set and edges are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.

FOR FILLING: Pour 2 T water into small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over.

Let stand 10 minutes to soften. Pour milk into heavy medium sauce- pan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into milk; add bean. Bring to simmer. Whisk yolks, ⅓ C sugar and cornstarch in medium bowl until thick. Gradually whisk in hot milk. Return mixture to same saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture just begins to boil and thicken, whisking constantly, about 3 minutes. Add softened gelatin and stir to dissolve. Strain mixture into medium bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface of pastry cream and chill until cool, about 30 minutes.

Using electric mixer, beat cream and powdered sugar in large bowl to stiff peaks. Carefully fold 1½ C whipped cream into pastry cream.

Fold in bananas. Spoon mixture into pie crust. Spoon remaining whipped cream into pastry bag fitted with medium star tip. Pipe whipped cream over filling, covering completely. Chill until set, at least 3 hours and up to 6 hours.

From: SARABETH'S-NY

Bon Appetit/Sept/94 Scanned & edited by Di Pahl & <gg>

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