January Inspiration: Momofuku Banana Cake

Photo from yummyinthetummy

Having recently purchased the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook, a 6" cake ring, a Silpat mat, and a quarter sheet pan, I will be rolling out my very own Momofuku Milk Bar-inspired banana cream cakes. This may even be something I continue to do on a regular basis by special request.

What will distinguish mine from the traditional Momofuku genius-beyond-my-wildest-imagination recipe? I plan to convert my banana cream pie into cake form for this. Momofuku uses a hazelnut crunch and cream filling that admittedly sounds delicious. But I want real down-home flavor in this one. I want it to taste like my mom's banana pudding that she used to make for special occassions. So I plan to make a nilla wafer crunch layer in between whipped cream and homemade custard. Nom Noms. Photos to come soon.

Settling Down

Things are finally starting to settle down after a long and eventful weekend. The Speakeasy as Pie event was a success beyond my imagination. Everything was beautiful and just as it should have been. And then all my friends and co-workers and even my family made it out to celebrate. It was just lovely.

Some stats:
$220: Money raised for Urban Sprouts
<1/2: Bag of garbage
9: Pies eaten
9: Hours the party lasted
50: Attendees, about half in costume

Here are some of the photos we took before the night began:

 The famous pie pops

 The pie of the evening: bourbon apple, just in time for fall

The table setup before dark

Some of our lovely accents: floating candles in mason jars (where I normally store lemon curd and pie filling), flowers, recycled crates

The two drink choices at the bar: The Newsboy and The Exotic Lady

The aerial view of the bar

Maria's zine stand

That's me awaiting guests at the pie stand. I'm not crazy about being in photos.

I Die for Banana Cream Pie

I wanted to start off my 25 Southern Desserts challenge in the strongest way possible, and nothing is stronger than banana cream pie, my friend. Just about nothin', I tell ya. I started with my mom's recipe, made the pudding myself, and even decided to go with a whole-wheat pie crust to even out the gooey-ness of the cream pie. 

Mmmm, Gooey. Creamy. Pie-y. 

Sorry, I got distracted!

The verdict? A really nice balance between the whole wheat-iness of the crust and the over-the-top sweetness of the filling. If I had to make it again, I might do a nilla wafer crust instead or just go with all pudding. That's the best part, after all. But a valiant effort that even my mom gave the thumbs-up to.

Start with the good stuff... I used half white and half whole wheat flour + Smart Balance

I like bananas as my first layer

...then pudding, then nilla wafers

Drool drool drool. If you let the pie sit in the fridge for about a day, the wafers get soggy and add such an amazing texture to the mushy bananas.

Here, you can see the layers: crust, bananas, pudding, wafers, pudding, bananas, pudding, wafers, whipped cream

The two of us put quite a dent in it in one sitting.

Extreme Close-Up

Recipe after the jump!