Strawberry Banana Cream Pie

Pies… we love pies. We had pies at our wedding instead of cake. We love pie.
We were having company coming over and I decided to try my hand at this Strawberry Banana Cream Pie. I did a test run for Mother’s Day. Talk about a mile high pie! It was huge! SO when I made it again, I tweaked it and made a third less of the cream and did a little more layering of the fruit, I think it turned out much better, Andy said he liked it either way. This pie doesn’t stay fresh too long, after all it does have fresh bananas in it that get quite funky in the fridge.

Strawberry Banana Cream Pie
What you need!
for the filling:
1 1/3 cups milk (I used 2%)
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch, sifted
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 ripe bananas, sliced
20 fresh strawberries, sliced

for the topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 preformed pie crust baked until golden brown

What to do!
Filling: Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan. In a larger saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the brown sugar, cornstarch and salt until well blended and thick. Whisking without stopping, drizzle about 1/4 cup of the hot milk into the egg mixture, warming the eggs so they don’t cook and curdle. Still whisking, slowly add the rest of the hot milk in a steady stream.
Place the pan over medium heat and, whisking constantly (make sure to get the edges of the pan), bring the mixture to a boil. Boil, still whisking for one minute before removing from the pan from the heat. Mixture will thicken quickly and will be quite lumpy. You may even think you’ve scrambled the eggs. Pull if off the heat and whisk it very briskly until the custard is smooth and silky.
Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let stand for 5 minutes then whisk in the butter, stirring until fully incorporated and the custard is smooth and silky. Transfer custard to a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic touches the surface of the custard and refrigerate overnight.
For the topping, with a stand mixer in a large bowl, beat heave cream until it just starts to thicken. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Continue to beat until the cream holds stiff peaks. Remove the whipped cream from the mixer and put the cooled custard in and begin to beat. When custard is loosened and silky, use spatula and fold in half of whipped cream.
Slice bananas and strawberries into thin, round slices.
Smooth small amount of custard on bottom of baked pie crust. Then arrange a layer of bananas. Then another small layer of custard, and a layer of strawberries. Continue until top layer is just custard. Smooth over remaining whipped cream and top with additional sliced strawberries.
Serve pie immediately or refrigerate for several hours before serving.