Bananas Foster Cream Pie

You've probably noticed that I link over to Linda's blog, The Gluten-Free Homemaker, every Wednesday.  She writes a terrific blog with fantastic links for those of us living gluten-free.  This month she gave us a pie recipe challenge.  I'm more of a cake girl than a pie girl, but I do love a challenge.  I looked around my kitchen for inspiration and saw these bananas nearing the end of usefulness.

I know what you're thinking - those bananas are disgusting and you can not use them.  You'd be wrong.  I buy Dole Organic bananas.  They're worth the extra 20 cents a pound.  They taste much more banana-ey and even when they look like the above, they are perfectly fine with no brown spots on the inside. 

I think it's the pesticides that make regular bananas tasteless and yucky mushy brown on the inside.  So with those bananas as my inspiration, I came up with this Bananas Foster Cream Pie recipe.

First things first - the pie crust.  Remember when I said I'm more of a cake girl, than a pie girl?  I cheat and use a store bought crust.  Most GF pie crust recipes use sweet rice flour which is one flour that I don't keep in the house.  I know it's shameful for an asian girl, but I just don't.  I use Gillian's frozen pie crust. 

It's not as flaky as I'd prefer, but it's a nice enough crust and I don't do pie enough for it to matter.  I transfer the frozen pie crust to my pretty Le Creuset pie dish and toss the aluminum one. 

Thaw and bake the shell at 350 for 15 minutes.

For the custard, take one banana and microwave it for a minute, then mash it up.  Put that in a saucepan with 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cornstarch, and 2 1/2cups milk over medium heat. 

Whisk constantly.  I use a flat whisk to be able to get into the corners of the saucepan.  You want to constantly be scraping the sides and bottom of the saucepan.

When the mixture has thickened(about 7 minutes,) whisk a bit of the milk mixture into 3 egg yolks to temper them, then add the yolks, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt back into the saucepan.  Whisk vigorously.  Simmer for 1 minute and remove from heat.

For the bananas foster, slice up 3 bananas and add them to a skillet with 1/2 stick of butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar.  Cook for a few minutes until all the brown sugar is dissolved and the sauce is caramely.

Add 1/4 cup of spiced rum and flame it.  I couldn't get the flambe picture because I needed both my hands and it only flames for a short little bit.

Layer half the custard, then half the bananas, custard, bananas in the baked pie crust. 

Top with chantilly cream(heavy cream whipped with powdered sugar and gelatin) or regular whipped cream.

I'll be freezing this pie to be enjoyed this weekend when Computer Genius arrives back home and Whirling Dervish has certified.  WD's wrestling coach would like him to certify at 103 this Friday, so no desserts for him for the next few days.  Yes, I realize it's crazy to ask a 105 lb 14 year old to lose a couple of lbs, but it is what it is.

Thanks for popping in for pie.  I'll be linking this up to Linda's Gluten Free Wednesday for the pie challenge.