Roasted Banana Pudding

I had never planned on posting about our New Year's "Good Luck" meal but I was so blown away with the flavor of the dessert that I had to share my excitement!

Over the past few years' I have been privileged to attend a true Southern-style New Year's celebration meal with all the fixins': Pork with Sauerkraut, Collard Greens, Black Eyed Peas, Cornbread and Banana Pudding. Deeeeeeelicious.

I never really had looked into why these dishes were celebration staples until this year when I was tasked with keeping the tradition alive. Growing up we never had a New Year's food tradition but I've learned that, like most other holidays, many cultures have traditions surrounding celebrating the new year and with the food centered around "good luck."  So while many people start the year off with dieting, many others around the globe are feasting - all in the name of luck!

The star of the New Year's Celebration menu is the pork. I learned that pork is the preferred meat based on how the animal is built and how it moves. A pig, by nature, first grounds itself with its snout before moving forward. This signifies progress. On the flipside, popular animals such as chickens and turkeys scratch backward before proceeding forward. Progression sounds good to me for a new year outlook - I'm not sure what this means for vegetarians though!

We slow roasted the pork (pork butt) in a mixture of spices, beer, and the next lucky ingredient: sauerkraut!

I'm of German heritage and attribute my love for sauerkraut to that. This concoction of fermented cabbage is not only healthy and delicious, it is also said to make your next year more "sweet" by having the "sour" cabbage. 


Then there are the black eyed peas. I actually do remember hearing about this tradition when I was younger but I always made a stink face at the mention of the ingredient. I'm not sure I had even tried them but there was something in the name that just didn't hit the right note. Flash-forward several years and I am actually making them in my own kitchen. And not just because they are supposed to bring financial wealth due to their resemblance to little coins (or so they say) but because they were actually delicious! Another part of the tradition says to eat a bean for each day of the coming year. I'll bet you I had way more than 365 beans so I think this year should be a good one! We followed Emeril's recipe for Hoppin' Johns for the black eyed peas and they were fantastic.

But the real reason I'm sharing this New Year's meal is not because of the pork or the superstitions - it's because of the DESSERT.

~roasted banana pudding~

It sounds a bit odd. Who roasts bananas? But think about what makes that loaf of banana bread so good. You take bananas and cook them - with sugar - so they are sweet and complex and truly unique from their fresh, raw counterparts. It makes sense! To bring out that delicious banana flavor in the banana pudding - roast the bananas!

There is no "lucky" tradition behind roasting bananas (to my knowledge) but this may just become a tradition in my household. Not only does it add another dimension to banana pudding - it adds richness that otherwise is often achieved through large amounts of fat in the recipe. And because I had already done my fair share of indulging over the holidays, it feels good to "cut back" without cutting out any flavor.

When selecting bananas, I am typically drawn to the brown specks, signifying natural sweetness and flavor. This is the best type of banana to eat raw (in my opinion) but the best banana to roast is actually the ones with the pure yellow skins.

Best to eat raw

Best for roasting

This wasn't intuitive to me at first as I attribute the more ripe banana with a stronger, sweeter flavor. But when you are roasting the banana, you are actually coaxing that out and if you start with a more ripe banana, you will end up with a mush, liquid-bursting mess (though probably still delicious).

I used Cooking Light's Roasted Banana Recipe as my base and then sprinkled in my own touches to make it gluten free and to simply tweak the recipe to my taste. I also did a half recipe because I was cooking for two and probably shouldn't be eating dessert every night the following week even though it is "healthier." The full recipe says it will serve 10 - I'd say 8 because it is too tasty to not go back for that second bite.

INGREDIENTS (for full recipe, so doubling what I did):

5 medium yellow bananas, unpeeled (about 2 pounds)
2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup coconut sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 container (12 oz) frozen whipped topping - thawed but not melted
Vanilla wafer cookies - about 170g (I used Gluten Free Animal Cookies) or about 45 Nilla wafers


If you are gluten free - these animal cracters worked out well. I "taste-tested" them a few days prior to making the pudding to "see if they would work." Well I had to buy a second box for the pudding because I ate all of them :-( They were too delicious dipped in my coffee....and as a snack.....

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet and cover with foil. Roast for 20 minutes. Remove 3 of the bananas and let cool. Roast the remaining 2 bananas for an additional 15 minutes, covered.

Meanwhile, after you set the timer for the remaining 15 minutes of roasting, get started on the pudding. Do not do this too far in advance as the two fully roasted bananas will need to be added to the pudding and this is best done as the cooking process is happening.

In a bowl, add 1/3 cup coconut sugar, cinnamon, salt, cornstarch and eggs. Whisk to combine. Set aside (this will be added to the milk mixture in the next step).

In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, combine the milk and 1/3 cup of coconut sugar, stirring often. Slowly heat milk mixture to a simmer (when small bubbles are coming to the surface) but do not let boil. Remove from heat.

Slowly stream a quarter cup of the milk mixture into the egg mixture and whisk to temper. If you add all of the milk at once, you risk making sweet scrambled eggs. Slowing adding the milk allows the temperature of the egg mixture to rise without cooking the egg. Slowly add the remaining milk, whisking constantly.

Meanwhile, peel the remaining two bananas that have been roasted for 35 minutes and mash them with a potato masher or a large fork. Make sure to make it as smooth as possible. Mix in the butter and vanilla. Set aside.

Return the milk mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent "lumpy" pudding. After about 3 minutes, the mixture should be thick and smooth. Remove from heat and add the mashed banana mixture to the pudding, mixing well. Let this sit for about 20 minutes to cool down (I put mine back in a mixing bowl and refrigerated it for this time).

Once at around room temperature, fold half of the whipped topping into the pudding, making sure to mix thoroughly but to not "beat" the whipped topping.

Peel and slice remaining three bananas.

To assemble - layer 1/3 of the pudding on the bottom of your serving dish (may be individual servings, round glass serving bowl, or square pan - something with at least 2.5 in sides). Evenly distribute 1/2 of sliced bananas over pudding. Top with 1/2 vanilla cookies. Repeat with 1/3 pudding and remaining bananas and cookies. Top with remaining pudding and a layer of whipped topping.

Refrigerate for at least an hour but the longer the better.

I was shocked with how delicious this was. And the fact that it was a lighter version of a traditional banana pudding, well that was just the "whipped topping" on top :-)

Enjoy!