I was looking for a quick and easy dessert the other day. I haven't been feeling too well this week and I was really wanting something that was comforting and delicious and that wouldn't require a lot of time and effort on my part.
If you are a purist you probably should look away now because this is going to push all your buttons. It is a huge cheat of a dessert in comparison to the real thing, but I am posting it anyways because there may be a few people out there who, like me, want a delicious dessert that isn't going to take oodles of time or ingredients!
Banana Pudding is a delicious dessert usually attributed to the South of America, consisting of a rich vanilla custard layered in a dish with sliced bananas and vanilla wafer cookies. It is usually served topped with whipped cream and more cookies and sliced bananas for a garnish.
I confess I have never had the original Banana Pudding so I can't really say how this compares, but I can say to you now that it is delicious no matter what. Quick and easy too.
It is also sized perfectly for just two people. Although, certainly, you could multiply the amounts to serve as many people as you are wanting to feed. That would not be hard to do at all.
It does make heavy use of convenience food ingredients, but you can also cut back on the sugar and fat in doing so by using lower sugar/fat ingredients.
You basically only need a few things. Bananas. Vanilla Pudding. Vanilla Wafer Cookies. Whipped Cream.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE QUICK & EASY BANANA PUDDING
As I said only a few simple convenient ingredients are needed. These amounts are for two people. If you want to serve more, multiply as required.
- 1 small fresh banana
- 2 vanilla pudding pots
- 8 vanilla wafers
- 1/4 cup (60ml) whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- few drops of vanilla
- banana slices to decorate
By pudding pots I mean the single serving pudding pots that come in four packs that you would buy to put in children's lunch boxes. You can get them in low fat and no sugar options.
You will need two of them, that's all. If you are in the UK, you could use a small tin of ready made custard.
Vanilla Wafer cookies are a round crisp vanilla flavored cookie that you can buy in boxes. Generally speaking they are relatively low in fat anyways. You can get them in mini or regular size which are about the size of a loonie/1 pound coin.
I do not mean the kind of wafers that you would find in a kitkat bar or that are available as biscuit fingers. These are round and like a cookie.
I suggest in the UK you use custard creams (remove the filling) or malted milk biscuits(cookies), or shortbread fingers or rounds. "Nice" biscuits would also work. You will probably have to break them up.
You could of course use artificial cream, squirty cream or the frozen whipped cream product for the cream on top if you wish, but I do prefer to use real cream rather than a frozen petroleum product.
You might also use ready whip or dream whip as it is called here in Canada, but I think "real" whipped cream will give you the best result. You don't need a lot of it and it whips up really quickly.
HOW TO MAKE QUICK & EASY BANANA PUDDING
No great skills are needed. If you can spoon things out and layer them, then you can make this. Children could easily make this. The hardest, longest part is waiting the half an hour for it to set up.
You will need two dessert glasses or small juice sized drinking glasses for this. You could even use plastic disposable glasses such as the ones you might use at a party.
Take two glass dessert cups. Press three vanilla wafers down into the bottom of each cup. Top with 1/2 pot of vanilla pudding.
Slice the banana into coins. Reserve two slices to decorate. Divide the remaining banana between the two cups, placing the slices over top of the pudding.
Divide the remaining pot of vanilla pudding between the two dessert glasses, putting half into each on top of the bananas.
Whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spoon over top of the pudding. Place in the refrigerator to chill for half an hour.
Decorate the top of each with a vanilla wafer broken in two and a slice of banana. Serve immediately.If you are planning on leaving it for any length of time, you may want to brush the sliced banana with lemon juice to prevent it from turning brown.
I suppose Banana Pudding is the closest thing they might have in North America to a Trifle. A Trifle is also a layered dessert with cubes of cake or lady fingers soaked in sherry and layered in a glass dish with custard and berries. Topped with whipped cream in much the same way.
Both desserts are delicious.
So there you have it quick and easy Banana Pudding. Simple. Easy to make and very tasty! This is the lazy man's Banana Pudding!
Quick and Easy Banana Pudding
Yield: 2Author: Marie RaynerPrep time: 5 MinInactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 35 MinThis is a bit of a cheat dessert. It is quick and easy to throw together and quite, quite delicious!Ingredients
- 1 small fresh banana
- 2 vanilla pudding pots
- 8 vanilla wafers
- 1/4 cup (60ml) whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- few drops of vanilla
- banana slices to decorate
Instructions
- This does need to sit in the refrigerator for about half an hour to set up, so bear that in mind when making it.
- Take two glass dessert cups. Press three vanilla wafers down into the bottom of each cup. Top with 1/2 pot of vanilla pudding.
- Slice the banana into coins. Reserve two slices to decorate. Divide the remaining banana between the two cups, placing the slices over top of the pudding.
- Divide the remaining pot of vanilla pudding between the two dessert glasses, putting half into each on top of the bananas.
- Whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spoon over top of the pudding. Place in the refrigerator to chill for half an hour.
- Decorate the top of each with a vanilla wafer broken in two and a slice of banana. Serve immediately.
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