Banana Custard

This delicious Banana Custard recipe can be used to fill cupcakes, cakes, pies and tarts. You can use it to make banana pudding, or even just eat by the spoonful. It’s easy to make and delicious.

I am going to show you how to make this lovely banana custard, which is basically a banana pastry cream.

I use this recipe to make my Banana Creme Brûlée Cupcakes, and Banana Pudding Cups.

You can use it to fill pies, cakes, cupcakes, macarons, choux puffs, or simply eat with a spoon.

This banana pastry cream is super thick and rich, and way better than instant pudding mix. The flavors don’t even compare. By infusing the milk with the banana, you obtain a very delicious banana taste without needing to add any of the fake banana flavoring or banana extract.

Banana Custard Ingredients

These are the ingredients you will need to make this lovely Banana Custard:

• Whole milk
• Bananas
• Vanilla bean (optional)
• Egg yolks
• Granulated sugar
• Cornstarch
• Pinch of salt
• Butter
• Vanilla extract

How to make banana custard

Making banana custard is super easy. Here’s how to do it.

• 1. Start by placing the bananas, milk, and vanilla bean seeds and pod in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and immediately when the mixture comes to a boil, turn the heat off.
• 2. Cover the pan and let it sit for about 1 hour. The longer you let it sit, the more banana flavor the milk will be infused with. You can place the pan in the fridge for a few hours of overnight if desired.
• 3. Once the infusing time is done, place the pan back in the stove, and re-heat the milk over medium heat until the first bubbles appear.
• 4. Turn the heat off, and pour the mixture through a strainer. Push gently on the bananas to strain all the milk.

While the banana strains, it’s time to prepare the egg yolk/sugar mixture.

• 5. Whisk the yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium bowl, until ribbon consistency. The mixture should be flowing off the whisk in a thin ribbon.
• 6. Pour the hot milk over the yolk/sugar mixture very slowly, while whisking non-stop. This is called tempering the eggs, and it needs to be done slowly so the eggs don’t scramble and cook.
• 7. Once all the milk has been added, pour the mixture back into the saucepan, and place it on the stove, over medium heat.
• 8. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring non-stop, until the custard starts to get very thick.

When the custard looks like the picture below, very thick and coating the back of the spatula in a thick layer, it’s done cooking.

Remove it to a bowl, place a piece of plastic wrap right on the surface of the custard, so it doesn’t form a skin. Let it cool down gently and place it in the fridge.

Tips for making Banana Custard

• Make sure the bananas are super ripe.
• Infuse the banana with the milk for at least an hour. You can also leave it in the fridge overnight.
• If not using vanilla bean, increase the amount of extract you add at the end by 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
• Strain the milk/banana mixture, being careful not to let a lot of banana pieces pass through the strainer. It can make the custard chunky, and also with a green color.
• When tempering the yolk/sugar mixture, make sure to add the milk slowly, so the eggs don’t cook or scramble.
• Stir the custard the whole time while cooking it, and don’t let it come to a boil.
• The custard will seem curdled at first, but it will thicken and become smooth as you keep cooking it.
• Keep the heat low, or medium-low while cooking the custard.
• The pudding will thicken even more as it chills in the fridge.

What to use Banana Custard for

You can use Banana Pastry Cream for several desserts.

Use it to make banana pudding, or these Banana Pudding Cups.

In this recipe for Banana Creme Brûlée Cupcakes, I use this recipe to fill and top the cupcakes, before torching the top.

Also use this recipe to make this delicious Banana Raspberry Pie, you will need to make 1.5x to have enough for the whole pie.

For these delicious Banana Macarons, I use the banana custard as a filling, with a delicious whipped ganache. I love the combo of chocolate and banana.

You can use the banana pastry cream to fill choux puffs, cakes, or tarts.

Or simply, eat with a spoon, as you would eat a regular pudding.

This recipe makes a pudding thick enough that you can pipe. It holds it’s shape well, it’s thick and rich. The Banana Custard is super creamy, and smooth, and delicious!

Here are some more recipes you may like:

• Banoffee Bars
• Banoffee Cake
• Passionfruit Curd
• Pistachio Paste
• Lemon Curd

I hope you enjoyed today’s recipe. If you make this Banana Custard, let me know in the comments, or tag me on instagram, I love hearing from you!

Banana Custard

Camila Hurst

This delicious Banana Custard recipe can be used to fill cupcakes, cakes, pies and tarts. You can use it to make banana pudding, or even just eat by the spoonful. It’s easy to make and delicious

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Resting time 1 hour hr

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 1.25 cups

Calories 30 kcal

Ingredients

  

Banana Custard

• 2 cups milk 480 ml
• 2 cups very ripe chopped bananas 340 g, 3 to 4 medium bananas
• 1 vanilla bean split in half optional, see Note
• 4 large egg yolks
• ½ cup granulated sugar 100 grams
• 3 tbsp cornstarch 24 grams
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter 14 grams at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract optional

Instructions

 

Banana Custard

• To make the Banana Custard, place the milk, sliced bananas and seeds from the vanilla bean (if using, read notes) in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring it to almost a boil.
• When you see the first few bubbles, remove the pan from the heat. Cover the pan and let the bananas and milk infuse for at least 1 hour, or place the pan in the fridge overnight. This will enhance the banana taste.
• When the milk is done infusing, place the pan back over medium heat and reheat until hot.
• While the milk reheats, in a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar, cornstarch and salt. Set aside
• Strain the hot milk, being careful so you don’t let any banana pieces get through the strainer. Gently squeeze the bananas to release as much milk as possible from the solids without letting them through.
• You can use this banana pulp to make cupcakes or cakes, or any recipes that require mashed bananas. Or discard.
• Slowly pour 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the hot milk over the yolk mixture while whisking nonstop. Keep adding the remaining milk very slowly, whisking the custard continuously.
• Once all the milk has been added to the yolks, return the whole mixture to the saucepan that you used to heat the milk by pouring it through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any bits of yolk that may have cooked or banana pieces that may have gone through.
• Place the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring nonstop with a wooden spoon or spatula, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom very well while you cook it.
• The custard will start to get thick and it will look lumpy for a while, but just keep stirring over medium heat. After a minute or so, the mixture should be thick and smooth.
• Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter (and vanilla extract, if using), stirring to combine. Pour it into a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap, placed right on the surface of the custard so it doesn’t form a skin as it cools. Place it in the fridge to chill completely.
• You can use this banana custard to fill cakes, even to top cupcakes like I do here on these Banana Creme Brûlée Cupcakes. You can also use it to fill pies, or to make Banana Pudding, or these Banana Pudding Cups.

Notes

Vanilla bean: Feel free to use 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract instead of the vanilla bean. In this case, add the vanilla extract after you are done cooking the pudding and have removed it from the heat.

Bananas: Make sure the bananas are super ripe.

Keyword banana, custard, pastry cream, pudding