banana cream pie

bananas in the middle, yum yum

Whatever you're doing, just stop and go make yourself a banana cream pie. It is such a delight. I had forgotten how much I loved this pie. Of course, I've never made the filling from scratch before; when I was a kid, I thought using a pudding mix was making it from scratch. I was surprised how easy to was to make the pudding and it was simply luscious. I made this one for a party, so I didn't nearly eat my fill. I might have to make another one right away so I can eat the whole thing instead of share.


I love the little flecks on vanilla bean in the pudding


unbaked pie crust with the cookie crumbs

Recipe: Banana Cream Pie
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

1. Make your favorite flaky pie crust, fully bake it, and cool completely. The recipe I used recommended rolling out the crust over graham cracker or butter cookie crumbs to help keep the crust from getting soggy. Just keep sprinkling the crumbs (about 1/2 cup total) over and under the crust as you roll it out.

2. Whisk 1/2 cup plus 2 TB sugar, 1/4 cup cornstarch, and 1/8 tsp salt in medium saucepan. Add 5 egg yolks, then immediately but gradually whisk in 2 cups milk (whole or 2%) and 1/2 cup evaporated milk. Drop in 1/2 vanilla bean, sliced open. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently at first, then constantly as mixture starts to thicken and begins to simmer, 8 to 10 minutes. Once mixture simmers, continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute longer. Remove pan from heat; whisk in 2 TB butter. Remove vanilla bean, scrape out seeds, and whisk them back into filling.

3. Pour filling into shallow pan to cool(another pie pan works well). Put plastic wrap directly over filling surface to prevent skin from forming; cool until warm, about 30 minutes. Pour half the warm filling into pie shell. Peel and slice 2 bananas on top of half the filling and top with remaining filling. Once again, place sheet of plastic wrap directly over filling surface. Refrigerate pie until completely chilled, at least 3 hours.

4. Whip 1 cup cream, 2 TB sugar, 1 tsp vanilla to soft peaks. Spread over filling and refrigerate until ready to serve.

plum flame tart

Furthering my attempt to make a least one dessert with each fruit as it comes into season, I made the Plum Flame Tart from The Pie and Pastry Bible. It's so cute and yummy. I don't remember ever seeing an Italian Prune Plum (or Zwetschgen as they are called here) back in CA. But in Switzerland, you can't escape them. Every store has mountains of these little juicy orbs. I love them. I didn't get great pics because I made it for a party and I was in a rush. I only took pics before baking, thus the green, instead of after baking, which was much more purple. I really liked it and would definitely make again.

Anyhoo, I particularly like this pie because it's a cinch to make. Whip up your favorite Pate Sucree (I've included the one I used below), pre-bake it, dust with cornstarch, quarter the plums, line them up in circles, sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar, bake, glaze, done! I have the details below. I did make a few mistakes:

- the recipe said "sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg", which I did in that order. I thought about mixing them together first, but I decided to follow a literal interpretation of the recipe. This meant there was a not so attractive, visible dusting of cinnamon on the tops of the plums. I'm definitely mixing them together next time before sprinkling.
- in my haste to get to the party, I forgot to glaze it with apricot preserves. This would have made it even prettier and slightly sweeter, which it needed.
- I should have pre-baked the crust a little longer. The instructions said to under-pre-bake so the crust was still a little soft so you can press the plums into it. I thought the crust was underbaked and a little soggy. So I'm doing the full pre-bake next time.



The recipes below are adapted from The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Barenbaum

Pâte Sucrée
In a food processor, process 8 TB butter and 1/4 cup sugar about 15 times until sugar disappears. Add 1.5 cups AP flour and 1/8 tsp salt and pulse again 15 times until butter is no larger than small peas. In a small bowl, stir together 1 large egg yolk and 2 TB cream. Add to mixture and pulse just until incorporated, about 8 times. Empty dough onto the counter and knead briefly until it sticks together. Flatten into 6-in disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 10-30 mins. Roll chilled dough out into 11-in circle, about 1/8-in thick. Place in buttered and floured 9.5-in tart pan and freeze for 2 hours. Pre-bake shell, without pie weights, at 425F for 5 mins, prick the puffy parts with a fork, lower heat to 375F and cook 10-15 mins until golden and set, but soft to the touch.

Plum Flame Tart
Preheat over to 350F. Wash, seed and quarter 2 pounds of Italian prune plums. Sprinkle the crust with 1 tsp cornstarch. Starting at the outside edge, arrange the plums in a circle so that they stand upright, with one pointed end pressing into the base of the crust, the other pointed end up, and the skin side leaning against the side of the crust. Continue in concentric circles, fitting in as many plums as possible. Mix together 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg and sprinkle over plums. Bake 45 mins until crust is golden brown and plums are fork tender. Remove to rack to cool. Heat 1/3 cup apricot preserves in small saucepan until melted and bubbling. Strain into small cup. Cool until no longer hot. Brush plums with melted apricot preserves. Garnish pie with whipped cream. Can be stored at room temp or refrigerated, up to 2 days.

fruit leather

I had way too much fun taking pics of this flexible stuff

My friend Alice suggested that I make fruit leather and who am I to turn down a suggestion? So I picked up 2.5 kilos of apricots at a roadside stand (for 17sfr) and roughly 48 hours later, I have fruit leather. It's not hard, but it's a long wait. After 24 hours drying in the oven, I almost gave up. It seemed like an indulgent waste of energy, keeping the oven on so long. But the thought of throwing away 17sfr of fruit made me persevere. (Realistically, only those growing their own fruit should make their own fruit leather; mine cost about 6sfr per sheet.) And boy am I glad. It's so tasty. Now I just have to stop myself from eating it all in one sitting.

I used this recipe for reference but it made me angry because it says to add 1/2 cup water to the fruit before cooking. I knew this was way too much, but I decided to trust the recipe. I was right: it was way too much!!! My fruit puree was so liquidy that it took days to dry. Only add a tiny bit of water to keep the fruit from initially sticking as you turn on the heat, before the fruit starts releasing its own juices.


ready to eat


rolled up for storage


gotta love that curly-q

Recipe: Fruit Leather

1. Locate your fruit. Roughly 4 cups of fruit will yield one baking sheet of fruit leather. Use any combo of fruit that sounds good to you.

2. Rinse fruit, de-pit and/or stem as necessary, and cut into large chunks. Place fruit in a large saucepan. Add a little water or juice, just enough to keep the fruit from sticking when you initially turn on the heat. The fruit will release it's juices rather quickly. If you add too much, you'll have to cook down the puree for a long time or dry the leather for a really long time (days!).

3. Cook for 10-15 minutes, just until fruit is tender and ready to puree.

4. Puree fruit with food mill or blender. A food mill will also remove the skins and fibers, making for a finer texture.

5. Add sugar, a couple tablespoons of lemon juice, and spices as desired (you can add these while cooking the fruit, but I find it easier to adjust the taste after the fruit has been pureed). The amount of sugar depends on the sweetness of the fruit. My apricots needed tons of sugar (at least 1 cup sugar to 4 cups apricot) and after tasting the final product, I still think I could have added more.

6. Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Pour the puree into the baking sheet, about 1/4 inch thick. Any thicker and it will take a lifetime to dry (I only had two baking sheets, so I think I did mine a little too thick, thus increasing the drying time even more). Make sure the plastic wrap doesn't fold over onto the puree. I had trouble with this, so moistened the sides of the pan with a little fruit puree to make the plastic wrap stick to the sides. Worked like a charm. Also, try to keep the plastic wrap from touching the sides of the oven.

7. Place baking sheet in oven at 140F/60C and let it dry until the puree is stiff and has a smooth surface, 12+ hours. Mine took at least 36 hours.

8. When the fruit leather is ready, peel up the plastic wrap off the baking sheet. To eat, peel off the plastic wrap and chomp, chomp, chomp. To store it, you can roll it up (keeping the plastic wrap on the back), put it in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.