Bake and Shake: Next, I'll try cats

Bananapudding
"Well, we're fraternal. So I mean, we're not exactly alike. I didn't need braces."

Sometimes I find myself trying out recipes that have nothing to do with what I think is good, or might taste nice. I've never been fond of bananas, though I recognize that they're a crucial part of the experience that is Banoffee Pie, coming to Universal Studios this fall.

So when I said I was making banana pudding, straight-up, classic banana pudding people wondered aloud what was wrong, what had happened. I don't like bananas, but I follow them to their locker, basically. They beckon me, then wonder why I'm hiding behind a trash can.

Besides the bananas, this dessert is kind of like the time a friend brought jars of baby food on a road trip, as one of his snacks and offered them up for tasting. I was 16 or 17 and sure, this is great, I'm eating strained peaches. This is GREAT. TASTY. I'm teething again. Someone change my pants.

It melds into this blissful, inoffensive but intensely vanilla mush -- a little slippery from the bananas, a little muted crunch from the Nilla wafers. It is hard to be offended by bananas in this form, but I'll keep trying.

Banana Pudding
Vanilla Pudding recipe adapted from Mark Bittman

1/2 cup sugar (I used vanilla sugar, like I use in most recipes. This is just granulated sugar stored with split, used vanilla beans)
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 Tbs cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
3 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped of its seeds (optional -- I use a vanilla extract that has seeds in it. You could also use vanilla bean paste)

1 box Nilla Wafers
1-2 large, ripe bananas
Juice from one lemon

Nutmeg
Whipped cream (optional)

Whisk together the cornstarch, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl or measuring cup/jug, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla bean seeds and 2 teaspoons of the vanilla extract until smooth and pale yellow. Turn the burner on, medium to medium high heat (I used the '5' setting on my electric range, if that means anything) underneath the saucepan and carefully whisk the milk mixture into the sugar/cornstarch mixture. Stir to break up any lumps, and continue to cook, whisking often, until the pudding thickens and comes to a soft, gloppy simmer. Turn heat down if scorching becomes a worry -- this whole process, according to Bittman and it took almost this long for me, should take around ten minutes. But what you want, is a thick, lump-free mixture that smells divine.

Remove from heat, count to ten and add the final teaspoon of vanilla extract. Whisk one last time.

Now, depending on what kind of pudding you want (individual or family style), you can totally freestyle this. Like that guy who is always beatboxing after three drinks. What you want to do is layer the warm pudding, Nilla wafers and banana slices in a style that compliments the dish(es) you've chosen to use. I used these small, tapered cocktail glasses -- one wafer fit perfectly in the bottom of each. But you can use bowls, a cake pan, a bedpan, whatever allows you to sleep at night.

Slice the bananas thinly, and toss with lemon juice, which will prevent them from browning. Starting with the wafers, work in the following pattern: Nilla wafers, Pudding, Bananas, Nilla Wafers, Pudding, Bananas, so on and so forth. You go. You're such a big kid, now.

Once you reach the final layer, feel free to decorate. For one dish, I ended with pudding and sprinkled a bit of nutmeg on top. For another, I added a Nilla wafer and banana slice to the top. If you like whipped cream, chill a bowl and whip some up.

Serves however many people you want it to, but really 4 or 5.

Senior Citizens will probably love this.