I've been dreaming of banana cream pie ever since I had a taste of Melissa Chou's (Aziza) deconstructed version inspired by The Essential New York Times Cookbook. I thoroughly enjoyed Chou's elegant take on the dessert, but I had a hankering for something a little homier.

I had visions of a pretty Southern belle of a pie, with little flair, of course. A classic golden graham cracker crust coated with dark chocolate ganache, sweet bananas, thick vanilla-specked pastry cream, and pillows of soft whipped cream swirled with salted caramel.

Mmm…I could almost taste it already.

Graham cracker crust

To start, I got my crust in order. Honey Maid made it even easier than usual with pre-crushed graham cracker crumbs. I mixed it with some melted butter and a touch of sugar and baked it until it was golden brown and firmed up.

Chocolate ganache bottom

Then, I coated the bottom with a rich layer of dark chocolate ganache (flair #1).

Pastry Cream

For the pastry cream, I combined whole milk, sugar, and vanilla bean and let it come to a simmer. A tip with the vanilla bean, if it's too hard to split in half, throw the entire bean in the saucepan so that it softens as the milk warms up. Once it's pliable again, fish it out, splice it open, and scrape the seeds out. Meanwhile, I whisked together some sugar, cornstarch, and eggs. When the milk boiled, I whisked in the egg mixture. As it heated up again, the mixture thickened up to a pudding-like consistency. To finish off the pastry cream I folded in some freshly whipped cream and bananas.

Salted Caramel

For my second bit of flair, I wanted to bring some burnt salted caramel into the picture. The subtle tinge of bitterness and pop of salt in the caramel added an interesting dimension to the mix. Plus, salted caramel is always a good decision in my book. Making caramel is surprisingly easy, but for some added reinforcement, I turned to David Lebovitz for some great detailed tips on making the perfect caramel.

Assembly

Now that all the pieces were ready, I layered in all the goodness and got ready for my dreams to come true. It was even better than I imagined it would be! The flavors complemented each other beautifully. The banana and chocolate -– a classic combo -– but brought to another level of interesting with the addition of the salted caramel, which also played nicely with the buttery graham cracker crumbs. Cool, creamy, sweet, and decadent. This is the kind of pie you want to take home to meet the parents.

Beautiful Banana Cream Pie

Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Ganache & Salted Caramel Sauce
Inspired by Amanda Hesser's The Essential New York Times Cookbook.

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Crust
1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs (10 or 11 whole crackers)
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Ganache Layer
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (about 1/2 cup chocolate chips)

Pastry Cream
1 2/3 cups whole milk
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped out and reserved
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salted Caramel Sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel (or kosher salt)

For Assembly
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
3 medium bananas

Preparation:
Make the crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Combine the crumbs and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter and mix until the crumbs are moistened. Pour the mixture into a 9-inch pie pan and use a flat-bottomed cup to press the crumbs evenly over the bottom; press it up the sides with your fingers. The edges of the shell will be crumbly.
2. Bake until lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Cool completely.

Make the ganache:
3. Set the chocolate into a bowl. Heat the heavy cream to boiling point and pour over the chocolate. Let stand a couple of minutes and gently stir until fully incorporated and glossy. It should be the consistency of warmed chocolate syrup. Cool to room temperature. Pour over the cooled pie crust and refrigerate.

Make the pastry cream:
4. Combine the milk, ¼ cup of sugar, and the vanilla bean and seeds in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. (Tip: If the vanilla bean is hardened, throw the entire bean in the saucepan so that it softens as the milk warms up. Once it's pliable again, fish it out, split it in half, and scrape the seeds out. Add it all back into the saucepan until the mixture simmers.)
5. In a small bowl, sift the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar together with the cornstarch. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg and yolks.
6. When the milk comes to a simmer, strain out the vanilla bean pods. Add the cornstarch mixture to the eggs and whisk until well combined. While whisking, slowly pour in about one-quarter of the milk to temper the egg mixture. Transfer this mixture to the saucepan, set over low heat, and simmer, whisking constantly, until it reaches the consistency of thick pudding. (Be careful not to curdle the eggs.)
7. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until incorporated. If the mixture isn't quite as smooth as you'd like, you can always run it through a sieve. Pour into a shallow bowl, place plastic wrap directly on the surface, and chill.

Make the caramel sauce:
8. In a heavy saucepan set over medium-high heat, stir together sugar and water, and bring to a boil. Let boil until amber-colored. Once it starts taking on color, keep a close eye because it will turn quickly.
9. Immediately add butter and stir to incorporate. Remove from heat, add cream and salt (be careful, it will splatter), and mix well. It should be smooth and have a syrup-like consistency. Let cool to room temperature.

To assemble:
10. Using an electric mixer or a whisk, whip the heavy cream into peaks. Add powdered sugar and incorporate. Transfer the pastry cream to a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Fold in about half of the whipped cream.
11. Line the bottom of the pie crust with a layer of bananas (approximately two bananas sliced into rounds). With the remaining banana, slice half if it into rounds for garnish, and roughly chop the other half to fold into the pastry cream.
12. Drizzle a thin layer of caramel sauce over the bananas.
13. Spoon the pastry cream evenly into the crust. Mound the remaining whipped cream on top. Drizzle some caramel sauce over the whipped cream, swirling it decoratively. Decorate with remaining banana slices.
14. Chill, and serve within 24 hours. Plate with remaining caramel sauce.

What is the most decadent dessert you can think of? For me, and my childhood memories of trips to Wolfie's in Miami Beach, Florida, it's a tall ice cream sundae or a giant banana split, with no less than 2 scoops of ice cream, rivers of hot fudge, and a mountain of whipped cream (hold the formaldehyde-soaked cherry please!).

Recently, using my birthday as the perfect excuse, I decided that I deserved something a bit over-the-top (and perhaps I was paying homage to that big-eyed childhood excitement of ordering the most decadent thing on the menu). Luckily for me, I've managed to position my home within walking distance of the Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco. What I consider, hands-down, to the be the best ice creamery in the Bay Area, and located on, in my humble opinion, the most amazing culinary street in the Bay Area (home to Delfina, Delfina Pizzeria, Tartine, and the Bi-Rite Store).

Before I get into the ooey gooey goodness of my birthday treat, let me describe the Bi-Rite Creamery for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of sampling this year-old ice cream shop's creamy delights. On any warm day, and especially on a rare warm night, you can be sure the creamery will be packed, a long giggling line snaking down the block, chock full of families and young hipsters, folks from the neighborhood and those who've traveled across the city. All there just to get a taste of the artisanal, seasonal flavors that go into Bi-Rite's ever-changing ice cream menu.

Salted caramel.
Honey lavender.
Creme fraiche.
Chai spiced milk chocolate.
Double ginger.
Balsamic strawberry.
Roasted banana.
Luscious lemon. (ok I added the luscious)

Maybe some of the flavors sound out there. But they also have The Best-Ever Yummiest Vanilla Ice Cream. (no really, I swear, that's the title). And Super-Extra Bittersweet Rich Dark Chocolate. And on a recent trip, one of my all-time faves, Rocky Road. Granted it was made with homemade marshmallows and marcona almonds, but it was the best damn Rocky Road that I've ever put in my mouth.

Anyway, I had determined, at least for me, that the banana split was their most decadent item. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of decadence at Bi-Rite Creamery. They have an entire sundae menu. Hell, they have a s'more pie! But their incredible version of this old-school treat had me wide-eyed and feeling naughty.

They start with two giant scoops (or was that four scoops?) of ice cream, your choice. I chose creamy dreamy vanilla and salted caramel. (Ok, before you say "ick" for those of you who haven't tried it, salted caramel is by far my favorite flavor, with it's intense flavor and almost fluffy melty texture. It's not for the timid--it is sophisticated, rich, intense, and yes, decadent.)

The ice cream is drizzled with bittersweet warm chocolate, and then the blow torch comes out. Seriously.

They split the banana, sprinkle it with brown sugar, and fire it up until it's crisp and caramelized. Nestled on top of the ice cream, my perfect banana split is then topped with freshly whipped cream and a handful of caramelized toasted walnuts (I opted out of this last embellishment as I'm allergic to walnuts).

Mmmmmmm. Heaven. I have to admit though, I did have to split my split. But it was all I could do not to lick the bowl when we were finished. I can't wait until my birthday next year. I think I might make this a tradition.

Bi-Rite Creamery
3692 18th Street (between Dolores and Guerrero)
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.626.5600