Today’s a special day. I’m pretty sure I was conceived on this day a bit more than a half century ago! This little fact has never actually been confirmed by the only two witnesses to the act, but I can do the math. I was a honeymoon baby, born nine months and eight days after my parents’ wedding night. What this has to do with White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie with Sugar Cookie Crust (what I’m calling a sugar pie) is a little less evident than the circumstances of my conception – but if you give me a moment I’ll connect the dots for you.
My Aunt (my mother’s sister) called me (and probably everyone else) sugar pie or just plain sugar. I’m pretty sure she knew my name, but I can’t really recall her ever calling me anything other than sugar pie. Maybe she called me sugar cookie once or twice – it wouldn’t surprise me. The point is she used the endearment sugar pie not the much more common sweetie pie. Now I’m no linguistical expert but it seems to me that sugar pie is a much more Southern moniker than sweetie pie (with Texas being the exception). Maybe I’m wrong, but endearments tend to be cultural and regional and they always have. Let’s boil it down – so to speak.
White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie
Have you ever noticed that so many of our sweetest terms of affection (also known as hypocorisms) are delicious? By that I mean food related.
babycakes, cookie, cupcake, honeybun, muffin, bonbon, chicklet, lambchop, peach, dumpling, bean, sugarplum, pumpkin, peanut, etc…
It’s not just my Southern relatives either. The French also have edible endearments: petit chou (little cabbage), petit pois (little pea) mon cochon (my pig). The Japanese have an interesting turn of phrase as well: tamago gata no kao (egg with eyes). Which makes the Italian term “meatball” (polpetto) sound downright delicious, I mean romantic.
Appetite inducing endearments aren’t strictly modern day sobriquets either. Huny gukus was a popular 16th century term to express fondness that was also a type of honey cake. Crowdie Mowdie (a type of porridge) is another archaic English nickname sure to get a love struck maiden blushing.
Anyway, it was my endearment-slinging Aunt who first planted the idea in my head that (in all probability) I was a honeymoon baby. Which I guess is the sweetest sort of sugar baby you can be (at least in her eyes). So let’s raise a glass my little jellybeans and pull up a slice of White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie. It’s the sugar pie I conceived to celebrate my special day. GREG
You may also use a 16½ oz package of refrigerated sugar cookie dough. Knead about ½ cup flour into the dough and chill thoroughly before lining pan. Also, this is a pudding pie, so expect messy slices!
Ingredients
- 16 ounce raw sugar cookie dough (formulated to rolled and cut cookies) see notes
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoon corn starch
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cup whole milk
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter (cut into small dice)
- 4 ounce white chocolate (chopped)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cup cold water
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3–4 ripe but still firm bananas
- 2 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
- 2–4 ounce white chocolate shavings (to taste)
Directions
Roll cookie dough between two pieces of plastic wrap to a 12 or 13-inch round about ⅓‑inch thick. Chill 20 minutes then peel off the top layer and invert the dough, centered, onto a 9 or 10-inch pie pan. Gently fit the dough inside. Be quite gentle as the tender dough breaks easily. Peel off the remaining plastic, trim the edge neatly, crimp decoratively if you like, then repair any tear or holes with the trimmings. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork. Freeze the crust for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile set the oven rack in the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the frozen crust for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully pat down crust where it is puffed. Return to oven until lightly browned, about 6 more minutes, then remove from oven and cool completely.
Meanwhile, combine granulated sugar, corn starch and salt in a medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to pull away from the sides when stirred. Remove from heat, but leave the burner on.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs until very frothy. Slowly ladle in about 1 cup of the warm, thickened milk mixture, stirring the whole time. Then slowly add the mixed egg mixture to the saucepan with the remaining thickened milk mixture, stirring constantly. Return the sauce pan to the heat and cook, stirring constantly, about 3 to 4 more minutes. Remove from heat and add diced butter and chopped white chocolate, stirring until melted. Stir in vanilla; set aside.
Add the water and lemon juice to a medium bowl. Peel the bananas and slice into ½‑inch rounds. Place the rounds in the acidulated water for about 30 seconds, drain and gently pat dry with paper towels.
Arrange as many of the banana slices as will fit in a single layer on the bottom of the prepared crust. Strain the warm pudding through a fine mesh sieve over the bananas, use only enough pudding to almost fill the shell to the top, but not quite. Cover the pie with plastic wrap laid directly onto the warm filling; chill until firm at least 2 hours.
Meanwhile, whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium speed until soft peaks form, 2 to 4 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar; continue whipping on medium speed until the soft peaks return, 2 to 3 minutes.
Spread the whip cream on top of the pie, sprinkle with white chocolate shavings. Serve.
You had me at white chocolate.. I’ve never even thought to use cookie dough as a crust — what a dashing idea! I saw a recipe earlier today that used crushed up cinnamon bun Oreos, which I also found pretty unique! Bookmarking this to try for the next time the family comes down. Thanks for this recipe, Greg!
I’ve never the bottom of a pie lined with banana’s but I like it!! Wow, I’m going to try this for sure this weekend. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Ashley
That sounds like a heavenly combo! Wow!
Mmm…banana cream pie. It’s been years, but I’ve never even heard of one with white chocolate, sweetums (that’s what my dad called me, but he was a Bronx transplant in Texas).
This whole post is so Southern. I call the boys “sweet potato.” I have no idea why. It just seems to fit.
Childhood memories, banana cream pie. Made one recently and OMG, so must try this one, what ever it is really called. Well don,t know when I was conceived but I know which holiday destination it was lol
You are too funny Greg! I’m certainly happy that you created this delicious pie to celebrate a very important date in your family history. 😀
good to know some details about your parents’ honeymoon 😉 And the pie… looks stunning!
My brother was also a honeymoon baby.
Also, interesting point about the terms of endearment. Although when I think back to what my dad called us kids, the girls weren’t food, but my brother was. I was “darliang”, my sister was “chinny” (which she HATED). But my brother was “you old sausage”.
Anyways, your pie looks amazing, as always! I just want to dive right in!
My aunt called me sugar lump! She was from Ohio, so maybe lumps were more accessible than pies. 🙂
Greg, my family didn’t use a lot of hypocorisms, though (and I don’t tell just anyone this!) my Daddy did call me “Honeybee.” 🙂 Anyway, your pie looks to be a real beauty and one a person could become addicted to, I’m sure.
Banana cream pie. Big fan. Haven’t made one for years. Happy Conception Day.
Traditionally, weren’t Chinese babies already 1 year old when born?
That pie looks pretty darned good, btw. 🙂
The Germans say Schätzchen which means little darling. I wouldn’t mind having a slice of that good looking pie. Enjoy and Happy Birthday!
I thought you were going to tell us your aunt knew that banana cream pie was the catalyst for the coupling and she was privy to that info. Fun. Happy Birthday ! There’s a white chocolate banana cream pie recipe in my cookbook. You’ve just inspired me to dream up a healthified version.
You never know what information sisters might share and hold close. GREG
This pie is exactly what my hubs would love, but I have been officially forbidden from making banana pies for him — he says he can’t resist them and is getting fat.
Maybe he’ll forgive me if I made this one for Valentine’s.
That’s an interesting anniversary to celebrate. I grew up in a family that didn’t use terms like that at all. I’ve never had banana with white chocolate. It sounds good. And I’ve also never used cookie dough to make a crust! That sounds good, too!