Cookin' Up Something Magical Tonight

Tonight I'm going to share something very special to me and my family
~ Aunt Marthie's Banana Pudding~

You would think we were referring to some magical recipe or a secret that could never be told. The truth is it has nothing to do with the recipe itself, but the person. Aunt Marthie was magic. Everyone thought so.

Since we haven't ever sat down and actually wrote the recipe down, it was a little tricky.

Tonight my mom and Aunt Ugie joined me in the kitchen to recreate this special recipe.

Aunt Marthie's Banana Pudding

Pudding -

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour

2 eggs - separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 can evaporated milk

1/2 cup milk

12 oz pack of vanilla wafers

2 bananas

Topping -

Egg whites from 2 eggs above

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup sugar

dash of salt

Go ahead and pour all the vanilla wafers in a oven safe "pudding bowl" or round casserole dish. I have a very special yellow Aunt Marthie bowl that was passed down to me. Slice the bananas and add them to the wafers. You can just toss them all together.

For pudding, mix dry ingredients (sugar/flour) in mixing bowl. Add the 2 egg YOLKS, vanilla extract, evaporated milk, milk. Mix these ingredients together with a hand mixer until very well combined. (Anyone in the family will tell you THIS step is the secret to the whole process, so don't skip mixing it with the hand mixer)

Transfer this mixture to a medium sauce pan. Cook on Medium, Medium High temp with a constant stir for about 10 minutes or until the pudding thickens. I start the heat on 6 or 7 but never any higher than 8. Don't rush it, you will burn it. While keeping a constant stir you should notice a thick layer forming on the bottom of the pan. You will need to stop the cooking once it really starts to thicken, but is still able to pour over the wafers. Immediately pour the mixture over the wafers and bananas making sure to cover everything. Just let it sit there, it'll soak into the wafers and give you a few minutes to whip the egg whites.

Set the oven to the Broil setting.

Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer. Add the dash of salt. Once peaks start to form stop the mixing and add the sugar and vanilla. Continue to beat the whites until stiff peaks form.

 

 Add the topping to the bowl, making it pretty (of course).

Place the pudding on the top rack of the oven, under the broiler, to brown the egg whites. Be VERY careful and don't walk away! You want a nice brown to top off your pudding.

Enjoy!!

Printable version
Notes:
If you omit the bananas = Vanilla pudding

If you add cocoa powder to dry ingredients & omit bananas = Chocolate pudding