These delicious puddings resemble moist muffins and are filled with pieces of banana. They are paired with butterscotch sauce and creme anglaise. The puddings and the creme anglaise may both be prepared ahead of time.
Ingredients
Banana Pudding
2 cups
all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon
baking soda
2
eggs at room temperature
1 tablespoon
vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups
sugar
1
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup
spiced rum
1/4 cup
(1 stick) softened unsalted butter
2
bananas, chopped
Butterscotch Sauce
4 ounces
(1 stick) unsalted butter
1-1/4 cups
brown sugar
1
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 ounces
spiced rum
1/4 cup
heavy (whipping) cream, warmed
2 ounces
butter
Creme Anglaise
1-1/2 cups
milk
1/3 cup
sugar
1
vanilla bean, split lengthwise
4
egg yolks
Garnish
1
Sliced fresh fruit for garnish (optional)
Instructions
To make the pudding: Preheat the oven to 275 F. Grease and flour a muffin tin. Sift together the flour and baking soda. Set aside. In a food processor, blend together the eggs, vanilla, sugar, salt, and rum. Add the butter and finish mixing. Remove to a large bowl. Fold in the flour and mix until smooth. Add the chopped bananas. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin, filling the cups 2/3 of the way full. Bake 10 - 12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Remove from pan when cool. The pudding will resemble moist muffins. Extra muffins can be wrapped and frozen for future use.
To make the butterscotch sauce Melt the butter and sugar in a 5-quart saucepan until the sugar dissolves and begins to turn a dark brown color. Add the lemon juice. Remove from heat and stir in the rum. Place it back on the heat and add the warmed cream. Simmer, whisking in the remaining butter until dissolved. Remove from heat and set in a large bowl filled with ice. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
To prepare the creme anglaise: Put the milk and sugar in a medium saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pods into the milk mixture, then put the whole pods into the milk. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks until pale in color. Slowly add the hot milk mixture to the egg yolks, an ounce at a time, stirring constantly, until the eggs are warm to the touch. Then add the egg yolk mixture all at once back to the milk mixture in the saucepan. Stir constantly on medium-high heat until the custard begins to thicken. Do not let the mixture boil. When thickened, remove from heat, place the pan in a large bowl of ice, and whisk to cool. Strain the custard through a fine-meshed sieve into a separate bowl. The custard may be made and kept refrigerated up to 2 days ahead.
To serve: On chilled plates, spoon a pool of butterscotch sauce. Top with a banana pudding. Drizzle creme anglaise around the plate and over the pudding. Add the optional fresh fruit for garnish, if using.
