Banana Pudding

14 years ago

Usually when I make banana pudding, it rarely has time to chill before it's consumed. (patience is not one of my best things)

I love to make some for a large family gathering this weekend and I'm wondering just how far in advance I could make it...

Do soggy cookies make the dish or ruin the dish?

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lindac

14 years ago

Seems to me that banana pudding is different for those living below the Mason Dixon line....
Growing up banana pudding was home made cornstarch custard with bananas in it....chilled and served with whipped cream. Then I met someone whose mother layered it with vanilla wafers....and it was made ahead so it was sort of a vanilla version of the icebox cake made with the boxed chocolate wafers.
Then I come here and find that some make it like a banana cream pie with meringue and with the cookies in the middle.
I like it anyway you do it!....but do prefer it cold.

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Comments (13)

lindac
14 years ago
I like the cookies soggy.....otherwise it's just pudding, bananas and boxed cookies.
teresa_nc7
14 years ago
The problem with banana pudding made ahead: you must keep it chilled, so the meringue weeps and the bananas can get too ripe and start turning soft and brown.

I'd make it the morning of the day you want to serve it - just my opinion.

Teresa
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lindac
14 years ago
I don't put meringue on it...I use whipped cream.
And submerged bananas don't brown in 24 hours.
jude31
14 years ago
It's all a matter of opinion. I don't like soggy cookies and I don't EVER use whipped cream, always meringue. And I agree with Teresa, make it the morning of, as close to serving time as you can manage and I personally would not refrigerate it if it's used the same day.
slowlane
14 years ago
Me too--always meringue (else it goes naked) and preferably no soggy cookies. The morning of or, at most, the night before is as early as I like to make it.

I can see the appeal of warm banana pudding, but chilled, especially in the summer, does it for me.
Lars
14 years ago
I've never had banana pudding with meringue - only with whipped cream, and that was below the Mason Dixon line. It has always had vanilla wafers in it, however, sometimes only in the bottom and sometimes in layers.

I would think that if it has meringue, then it is a pie instead of a pudding, but that's just what I'm used to, and I've never had it warm - only chilled. Perhaps the meringue is an Eastern thing.

Lars
murphy_zone7
14 years ago
way back in the day (long ago and far away).....my mom, grandmother, aunts etc all made banana pudding with the cooked pudding using only egg yolks, milk, cornstarch, and sugar, the cooked pudding was layered with bananas and vanilla wafers, the whites (not to be wasted) were used for the meringue, placed on the pudding and browned under the broiler. The bananas always had a "cooked" kind of taste and I never really liked it. It was usually made and served the same day and leftovers were put in the fridge which really made the bananas bad IMO. If you put it together with warm pudding, the wafers will get kinda soft by the time it is served.
Now when I make it I use instant pudding, vanilla extract, cool whip, vanilla wafers, and bananas. NO MERINGUE! Quick, easy, and good. Perfect summertime dessert. It must spend the night in the fridge so those wafers get soft.
Oh this is from BELOW the mason dixon line! LOL I can't remember the last time I saw banana pudding with meringue on it...not even at family reunions, church socials, and other places that southern folk gather.
annie1992
14 years ago
Funny about the differences in toppings. My Grandmother always put meringue on the banana pudding, and she used cookies, but she crumbled homemade sugar cookies into the pan, topped with bananas, homemade pudding and meringue on top.

As Murphy mentioned, the yolks went in the custard and the whites became meringue, maybe just to use the egg whites.

My ex-MIL is from Kentucky and my current SIL is from Tennessee and they both use whipped cream. Well, that's not true, they both use Cool Whip, LOL, the ex-MIL used to use Dream Whip.

Annie
evenshade
14 years ago
Another one from below the Mason Dixon line and it was always meringue. I haven't had it in ages but I love it still warm with the 'Nilla wafers just starting to soften.
teresa_nc7
14 years ago
Just goes to show.....different strokes for different folks!

My mom, my two sisters and I are rather picky when it comes to banana pudding and chicken salad for that matter. We won't eat just *any* banana pudding -- we need to know who made it, how they made it, and when it was made. Same thing with the chicken salad. And some Southerners do not care for chicken salad made with the dark chicken meat included in the recipe. Meh.....I don't mind some dark meat in the chicken salad. Guess I'm just not one of those "refined" Southerners. I never order banana pudding in a restaurant and will only get chicken salad at certain places.

I have a good friend who is known for her banana pudding. She gets up at 5:00 AM to make a big casserole dish of it whenever anyone is celebrating a birthday in her area of the office. Luckily for me, she always calls to tell me the pudding is there or she has been known to bring me a cup full. Good enough to make your eyes roll back in your head!

Teresa
lbpod
14 years ago
Happyintexas, I know EXACTLY what you mean about
consuming the banana pudding before it has been chilled.
I too, think it is best at room temperature, not warm
mind you.

And Annie1992, I didn't realize that there was anyone
on this planet, besides me, that was old enough to
remember Dream Whip. WOW !!!!!
Janet
5 years ago
Can it be made at lunch and leave on counter til supper to eat

Banana Pudding

lindac

Comments (13)

lindac

teresa_nc7

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