Tag Archives: bananas

Banana Pudding with Maple Pecans

BY HELEN S. FLETCHER, ON
COPYRIGHT, HELEN S. FLETCHER, 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PHOTOS BY PASTRIES LIKE A PRO UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

Banana PuddingBanana Pudding is a favorite southern dessert usually made with purchased vanilla wafers and vanilla pudding mix. Before I became the pastry chef at Tony’s, I worked briefly at the Hyatt Hotel which was a client of the bakery. I wanted to see how a big bakery department worked.

I remember making 10-gallon jars of Banana Pudding for a southern convention at the hotel. I was surrounded by cases of vanilla wafers, and pudding that was premade. After a while, I couldn’t even remember the order in which the jars were assembled because my mind was so numb.  I don’t think I looked at another banana for years. Continue reading →

Fruit Basket Banana Cake

BY HELEN S. FLETCHER, ON
COPYRIGHT, HELEN S. FLETCHER, 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PHOTOS BY PASTRIES LIKE A PRO UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

Fruit Basket Banana CakeBananas, strawberries and pineapple team up to make the Fruit Basket Banana Cake. It  is the perfect cake if you are looking for something light but with lots of flavor and it is a great summertime dessert.

The banana cake is one I worked on for a while.  Most banana cakes are heavy and I wanted one that was lighter but still had plenty of banana flavor.  It is unusual in that it uses both oil and butter.  Other than that, it is a straight forward, easy to make banana cake. The cake also makes great cupcakes with a browned butter buttercream.

The pastry cream is lightened with a bit of whipped cream.  Crushed pineapple is folded in and after it is spread between the layers, strawberries cover the cream.  The Fruit Basket Banana Cake is finished in whipped cream with a piped lattice design on top. Continue reading →

Banana Caramel Tart with Rum Pastry Cream and Praline

BY HELEN S. FLETCHER, ON
COPYRIGHT, HELEN S. FLETCHER, 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PHOTOS BY PASTRIES LIKE A PRO UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

Banana Tart with Rum Pastry CreamI was recently asked for a “New Orleans type dessert” at the restaurant. I was excited to come up with these Banana Caramel Tarts with Rum Pastry  Cream and Pralines.  The first bite will take you to Mardi Gras.

This praline is to one of the best things I have ever eaten. And eat it I did!  Once it cools, it has an opaque, almost grainy look.  When the pecans have been added, the candy sets up almost immediately,  so get it onto the prepared sheet pan and spread it out right away.

These tart shells are of the “cookie crust shells”.  We used this recipe at the bakery for our 11″ tart shells as well as individual shells.  The reason I liked them is they didn’t require rolling out.  They are crisp and stay that way.  We would press these into shells at the bakery, bag them and store them in the freezer to be baked off later. Do not try to freeze the baked shells as they will crack in the freezer if not filled.  This is one of the main shells in my book, “European Tarts”. Continue reading →