The White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

Have you ever been to a restaurant and ordered something that you will never forget - in a good way?  While I have had lots of good meals out, I have only had things I can't stop thinking about a handful of times ... one of them was the white chocolate banana cream pie from Soby's in Greenville, South Carolina.

We don't get to go to  Greenville often, but EVERY SINGLE TIME we do ... we go to Soby's and get a slice of this pie, no matter our other plans.

And, I don't even like bananas.

So, I had to try to recreate it ... this is my attempt:

First, make the tart crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted plus more for dusting
1/4 tsp salt
6 T cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup ice-cold water
1.5 T sugar

Combine the sifted flour, salt, and sugar.  Add the butter and cut it into the flour until you get "little beedees" as my father calls them:  pea-sized pellets.  Pour the cold water over the mixture and toss it together with a fork.  It will be sticky!  Then knead the dough two or three times with your hands and shape it into a ball.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Now, pull it out of the fridge and pretty heavily dust your working surface and rolling pin with flour - heavily.  Don't be afraid of using a good bit of flour if you are like me and struggle to have one holeless crust when you are finished.  Yes, it may make your crust a little dryer, but at least you will have a crust.  Some may scoff at me for saying that, but ... I mean, I need a working tart shell, and I'll do whatever it takes.

Roll it out to be about an inch longer in circumference than your tart pan.  Gently roll the dough up around your pin and then unroll it onto the pan.  Trim the edges.

Cover the tart shell with a layer of aluminum foil and fill with rice, pie weights, or dried beans.  Put it in the oven for 15 minutes.  After the 15 is up, remove the weights and foil and leave in there for another 9 to 15 minutes.  Start checking on it around 9 and just watch it until it gets to be the perfect golden brown color you want!

Once your tart shell is finished and while it's cooling, it's time to make the banana cream filling.  I wanted to keep it simple, so it mostly contains entire containers of things:  a whole pint of whipping cream, a whole block of cream cheese, a whole can of sweetened condensed milk, etc.  So, here are the specifics:

1 pint whipping cream

2 T sugar

1 block cream cheese (8 oz)

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 3.4 oz box banana cream pudding

1 cp whole milk

4 bananas

First, whip the cream with the sugar until it is relatively stiff.  You don't want a runny pie, so make sure the consistency isn't sloshy.

In a separate bowl, mix the pudding mix and the milk together.

Now in another separate bowl, mix the cream cheese on medium speed until it is smooth and has no chunks.  Now, add the pudding.  Mix.  Add the sweetened condensed milk.  Mix.  Add the whipped cream.  Mix

Now slice up the 4 bananas thinly and fold them into the mixture using your hands.  I wear gloves!

Once everything is combined, fill your pudding shell making a dome - higher in the middle and meeting the edges of the tart shell a little bit lower all around the edge.

Lastly, grab a block of white chocolate and a vegetable peeler and peel away.  You want a lot!  I use two bars of Ghirardelli white chocolate.

Cover the pie with the white chocolate.  Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until you are ready.  Enjoy!