This pie has 3 parts. First I made the caramel sauce. Which was super easy, btw. The other times I’ve tried making caramel sauce for caramel apples, it just didn’t turn out right. This recipe was right on and you HAVE to let your candy thermometer get to 350 F. Just be patient, it will happen. 🙂 Too add more flavor to the caramel stir in some salt and vanilla extract. I didn’t the first time and the caramel was just kind of blah tasting. Ingredients 1 ½ cups sugar â…“ cup water 1 ¼ cups heavy cream 1 teaspoon of course salt. Directions Over low heat, mix the water, and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 to 10 minutes. Do not stir. Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful - the mixture is extremely hot! Watch the mixture very carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Turn off the heat, and stand back to avoid splattering. Slowly add the cream. Don’t panic - the cream will bubble violently, and the caramel will solidify. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits.
Next, I made the pudding. It was kind of difficult at first, because I used the wrong type of pan. I think this pudding recipe is best used with a heavy duty bottomed pan. I found that out for my caramel sauce too. The last time, I tried making caramel sauce my stainless steel sauce pan got burned on the bottom and it is a PAIN in the butt to get that stuff off of it. We have found the best way to get the burnt stuff off is to boil some really hot water and let it soak in the pan for awhile. Here is the rest of the recipe for the pie. I’m entering this pie in for a pie baking contest at work this week. The only requirements were that it had to be all homemade. Store bought pie crusts were ok to use too. They didn’t say anything about it having to be your own recipe either. I wish this recipe was mine, but oh well. 🙂 It is Anne Thorton’s recipe for the tv show called Dessert First. It’s about time Food Network gets a show all about desserts. Do you like my new pie dish too? Got that at Crate and Barrel. Love that store.  Vanilla Pudding: ¾ cup sugar â…“ cup all-purpose flour 2 large eggs 4 egg yolks 2 cups milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Put 45 vanilla wafers in a food processor and pulse until the cookies are finely crushed. Reserve ½ cup to top the pie. Stir together crushed vanilla wafers and butter in a small bowl until blended. Firmly press it into the bottom, up the sides, and onto the lip of a greased 9-inch pie plate. Bake until lightly browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool until completely cool, about 30 minutes. Coat the banana slices with salted caramel. Arrange some banana slices evenly over the bottom of the crust. Spread half of the hot, prepared Vanilla Pudding over the bananas, top with vanilla wafers, and more caramel-coated bananas. Spread the remaining filling over the vanilla wafers, and caramel-coated bananas. In a large bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Add the almond extract, and sugar and beat until peaks form. Make sure not to overbeat, or the cream will become lumpy, and butter-like. Spread the cream over the pies. At service, garnish with a caramel swirl, and the reserved vanilla wafer crumbs. In a bowl whisk together the sugar and flour until all of the lumps are gone. Once it is a fine powder, whisk in the eggs, and egg yolks, and continue whisking until a smooth paste is formed. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of milk, and once this is incorporated add the remaining cup of milk. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan, and cook over medium heat whisking constantly, until it reaches the thickness of chilled pudding, about 10 to 15 minutes. (Mixture will just begin to bubble and will be thick enough to hold soft peaks when the whisk is lifted.) Remove from the heat, and stir in vanilla.  Â
