Ingredients
Instructions
For the pie crust:
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add the chopped and chilled butter, and toss to coat it in the dry ingredients.
- Flatten each chunk of butter between your thumb and forefinger to make flat shards of butter.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients with the butter shards. Add the sour cream and mix to moisten the dry ingredients with the sour cream. The dough should be shaggy and still somewhat crumbly. If there are any portions of the dough that are especially dry, drizzle cold water or vodka by the teaspoonful to those parts and then mix to moisten them. Drizzle in more cold water or vodka only as necessary to moisten all of the dry ingredients.
- Knead the dough together until it begins to come together. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and press into a disk as you close the plastic wrap around the dough. Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
- After the dough is chilled, turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and sprinkle the top lightly with more flour. Roll the dough out into a rough rectangle that is about 1 inch thick, moving the dough frequently and sprinkling it lightly with flour if it begins to stick. Fold the dough over on itself in thirds like you would a business letter. Sprinkle the dough again lightly with flour, and roll out the dough once again into a rough rectangle about 1 inch thick. Fold again in thirds. Sprinkle the dough again lightly with flour, and roll out once more into a rough rectangle, for a total of 3 times. Fold the dough in thirds again, then fold in the sides to make a square packet of dough. Press the dough together, and try to round the sides into a disk. Roll the dough out into an approximately 11-inch round, about 3/8-inch thick. If the dough splits on the edges, pinch them together. If the dough feels warm at all, or like the butter is melting, cover it with plastic wrap and chill it until the butter is firm again.
- Spray the pie plate with nonstick spray. Roll the pie crust loosely onto the rolling pin and then unroll it over the prepared pie plate. Trim any rough edges of the crust. Lift up the edges of the pie crust gently to create slack in the crust, and place the crust neatly on the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Tuck the excess pie crust under itself along the perimeter of the crust, where it overhangs the pie plate. Crimp the edge gently all the way around the crust by pinching the dough at regular intervals with one hand, and creating a crimped impression with the forefinger of the other hand. Cover the pie crust with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.
- While the crust is chilling, preheat oven to 375°F.
- Blind bake the crust: Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper. (Crunch up the parchment paper first so that you can easily shape it into the crust.) Fill with pie weights or dried beans. (Note that you will need at least 2 standard sets of pie weights to fit.) I like to push the weights up against the sides of the pie crust to help ensure the sides don’t shrink down. Bake until the edges of the crust are starting to brown, about 15–16 minutes. Remove pie from the oven and carefully lift the parchment paper (with the weights) out of the pie. Prick holes all over the bottom crust with a fork. If desired for a shiny golden crust, brush egg wash on edges. Return pie crust to the oven and bake for 14–15 minutes, or until bottom has browned. Remove from the oven, and cool on a wire rack completely before filling.
For the banana custard:
- Whisk the egg yolks and cornstarch together. Set aside. Combine the milk, heavy cream, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until all the sugar has dissolved, then bring to a gentle simmer, whisking occasionally. Once simmering, remove about 1/2 cup of the milk mixture and, in a slow and steady stream, whisk into the egg yolk and cornstarch mixture. Keep the egg yolks moving so they don’t scramble. In a slow and steady stream, pour and whisk the egg yolk mixture into the pot. The custard will immediately begin to bubble and thicken. Cook for 1 full minute, whisking constantly.
- Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the vanilla and butter. If you notice little chunks of egg yolk, run the warm custard through a fine mesh sieve.
- Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the warm pudding to prevent a skin from forming on top. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. I do not recommend any longer than this, as it will be too thick to spread neatly into the crust.
- Slice 2–3 bananas and arrange slices into the cooled pie shell. Spread custard on top (it’s ok if it is still slightly warm). Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.
For the whipped cream:
- When ready to serve, or up to 1 hour before serving, make the whipped cream. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, about 3–4 minutes.
- Pipe or spread the whipped cream on top. Slice remaining banana and garnish with banana slices and serve pie immediately, or refrigerate for up to 1 hour and then garnish with banana slices and serve. (Best to garnish with banana slices immediately before serving, but whipped cream can go on the pie up to 1 hour in advance.)
- Slice and serve. Cover leftovers and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.