Banana Cream Pie

by Mary Olsen

Event Team Back of House

Lots of people I work with at Culinary Crafts have known all their lives that they wanted to be chefs, but I am not one of those people. I didn’t grow up learning to cook at my mother’s elbow. I haven’t gone to culinary school. The joy of cooking is something I discovered late in life, and I found it almost by accident.

In 2019, my neighbor and dear friend Sara Brimhall spread the word that the catering company where she worked needed people to help them stage events at the Sundance Film Festival. I figured I could always serve plates or bus tables, so I signed up. At that first event, I spent the whole evening making coffee and washing dishes, but I also watched what they were doing over in the kitchen. It was fascinating to see how carefully they prepared and plated the food. Each dish they sent out looked beautiful and smelled amazing.

And then, when the evening’s work was done, I got to taste it. Oh! My! Word!

Pie to Die For

I don’t remember everything I tasted that day, but I do remember that the banana cream pie was the best thing I’d ever put in my mouth. Since then, I’ve worked hundreds of events with Culinary Crafts and sampled more gourmet dishes than I can count, but the banana cream pie is still my all-time favorite.

Working with Sara and the rest of the Culinary Crafts team has changed the way I cook and even the way I experience food. I still don’t consider myself a great chef, but I’ve become a lot more bold in the kitchen. Even the way I shop has changed. Walking down a grocery store aisle, I look at cheese and olives and produce I never would have noticed before, and I think about what I could do with those ingredients. Eating out is different too. Now, when I see a well-plated dish or my chicken is cooked perfectly, I appreciate the effort and skill it took. I’ve started ordering things I’ve never tried. I’ve also become a better tipper.

Thanks to Sara and Culinary Crafts, I have a whole new relationship with food. But nothing will ever change my love for this banana cream pie.

CRUST

Ingredients

2 cups flour
½ cup ice water
4 tbsp butter
8 tbsp lard
1 tsp salt

Instructions

Warm lard and butter to room temperature. Blend them together on low speed, then chill until cold. Cut the lard/butter mixture into small pieces.
In mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Using your fingers, pinch the lard/butter into the flour until it resembles small grains of rice.
Sprinkle the cold water over the flour mixture, one tablespoon at a time, and lightly toss with a fork after each addition. Use enough water for the mixture to come together. Do not overmix.
Form the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 4 hours. Remove the dough from the refrigerator 30 minutes before rolling.
Flour a flat surface. Roll dough into a circle roughly two inches larger than your pie plate. Crust should be about ⅛ inch thick.
Place your pie pan upside down in the center of your dough. Use a knife or pizza wheel to cut dough to form a circle 1 inch larger than the pan, all the way around.
Fold dough circle into fourths to allow you to pick it up without tearing. Gently place the dough in your pie pan and unfold it to cover the pan. Lightly press crust into pan. At the edges, fold excess dough under to form a double-thick ridge.
Crimp edges with fork or pinch between thumb and forefinger to form a decorative edge that is slightly higher than the rim of the pan.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Place parchment paper over the crust. Place pie weights onto the pie if you have them, or you can pour dried beans onto the parchment paper to weigh down the crust as it cooks. (Otherwise, the dough will bubble in the oven.) Bake about 15 minutes, until the edges of the crust start to brown. Remove from oven and carefully take out the parchment paper and weights. If the bottom of the pie is still a bit raw, use a fork to prick holes in the bottom of the crust and place it back into oven for a few more minutes until the bottom of the crust turns golden brown.

PASTRY CREAM

Ingredients

17 oz half and half (2 ⅛ cups)
3.5 oz sugar (½ cup)
a pinch salt (1/16 tsp)
2-inch piece vanilla bean
2 large eggs
1 oz cornstarch (3 tbsp)
¼ oz white chocolate (2 tsp chips)
2 bananas (not too ripe)

Instructions

In a pan, mix together the half and half, sugar, and salt over medium heat. Keep stirring as you add vanilla bean and warm to a boil. Remove from heat and strain out the bean.
In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and corn starch. Slowly temper the eggs by stirring small amounts of the hot half and half mixture into the egg mixture 1 tbsp at a time. (This warms the eggs without making them curdle.) Continue stirring until mixtures are fully combined and bring to a soft boil.
Remove and place in ice bath. Add 1 tbsp butter in chunks. Let cool.
Melt ¼ oz of white chocolate and brush it over the floor of the pie to prevent it from turning soggy by the filling. Layer with banana slices. Fill with pastry cream.