Valentine's Pudding for the Hubby

Homemade Banana Pudding

I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping up with my blog, but I have been cooking a lot lately, so I'm going to try to do better about posting.  Life has been hectic, but I'm settling down to a routine now, so I should have more time.

My husband loves banana pudding.  Actually desserts in general, but he has a particular fondness for bananas.  I'll be honest, I've not had a lot of banana pudding myself.  I'm definitely more of a salty kind of gal.  Banana pudding is fairly easy to make, the longest part is probably waiting for it to set.  

I assumed, incorrectly it seems, that banana pudding was banana flavored pudding layers with Nilla wafers and fresh bananas.  I was wrong.  Banana pudding is actually made with alternating layers of a very rich vanilla custard/pudding, bananas, and Nilla wafers.  The end result is a very dense, rich, and flavorful dessert.    The banana flavor seems to kind of meld into the vanilla as it chills and it's really delicious.

Although this was really tasty, I don't think it will be something I make for more than a special occasion.  When I say the vanilla pudding layer is rich, I'm not kidding.  The recipe I used had half and half, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy whipping cream.  So, it's definitely a once in a while treat.  Recipe is really simple, and it passed the husband taste test, so this will probably become my usual recipe for this dish.  The only substitution I made to the recipe was using the entire can of sweetened condensed milk, and subbing half and half for the water. (I can never leave a recipe alone!)  Great recipe when you need a quick dessert that is sure to impress!

The recipe I used can be found here:  Banana Pudding