Banana Pudding with Salted Caramel and Brown Butter Wafers

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 1

Total Time 2

Servings 4

Set aside a bowl to cool the pastry cream with a fine-mesh sieve/strainer on top
In another bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and sugar. To the cornstarch and sugar, add in the eggs and whisk until smooth. Set aside the mixture
In a saucepan, pour in the milk and vanilla bean. Add the salt and mix. Place the mixture on medium-high heat until just under a boil. Be sure to stir the mixture occasionally to ensure the milk solids do not stick to the bottom of the pan
When the milk is warmed, add 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to ensure the eggs do not cook. After it is combined, pour the egg-milk mixture back into the remaining ⅔ of the hot milk. Whisk over medium heat until the mixture is as thick as lightly whipped cream. It should just come just barely to a boil – be sure not to let it get beyond this as the cream will curdle. Remove from the heat and immediately pour through the sieve/strainer into the bowl. Do not leave the pastry cream in the pan as it will continue to cook.
Let the cream cool for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes, mix in the butter one piece at a time. Stir until smooth before adding the next piece of butter
Cover the bowl of pastry cream with plastic wrap. The plastic should press onto the pastry cream to keep it from developing a skin. After wrapping, place in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes - 1 hour while making the other components

In a medium pot, combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup (use a pan larger than the contents as it will bubble to ~4x the size). Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Then cook, without stirring, until the mixture is amber colored, around 8 minutes. Remove from the heat. (Complete step 2 while the mixture is becoming an amber color)
While the sugar is heating, pour the heavy cream and vanilla bean paste into a small pot and heat on medium-high until it is just under a boil. Remove from heat and set aside until the sugar is ready
Slowly pour the warmed cream into the amber sugar syrup. At first, the mixture will boil furiously but then will simmer down. Whisk until smooth and cool 5 minutes
One tablespoon at a time, add the butter to the caramel. Add the sea salt. Whisk constantly after each addition
Set aside. Note: the caramel will firm up so it may need to be slightly heated for a few seconds in the microwave before layering

Lightly break wafers into halves. Set aside
On medium heat, add 4 tablespoon of butter into a heavy saucepan
Stir constantly until brown bits form in the bottom of the pan and the butter starts to smell nutty
Once the butter is brown, turn off the heat and stir in the wafers, set aside

Right before assembling, whip together heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla in the base of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer on medium high speed until soft peaks form

Fold together the pastry cream and half the whipped cream (reserve the other half for serving)
Cut the bananas into slices (~¼ inch thick) and set aside
At this point, you should have all components ready - pastry cream, bananas, salted caramel, brown butter wafers, and whipped cream.
To layer the pudding, we do the following: a third of the pastry cream followed by a drizzle of caramel followed by 1/2 of the bananas followed by a layer of 1/2 of the wafers (complete one more time for 2 layers). Top with the final 1/3 of the pastry cream and top with whipped cream.
Note: you may have some caramel left over, add the amount to taste
Note: this can also be done in 4-6 glasses (~12 oz) or a large bowl/dish
Let it sit in the fridge for 1-4 hours and serve. This is best served the same day of assembly

Pastry cream adapted from one of our favorite bakeries of all time-Tartine.