One of the plot strands in A DISH TO DIE FOR has to do with the Woman's Club in Key West, which is a gorgeous old home on Duval Street. I took a tour of the building in the spring of 2021 and was the happy recipient of the 1988 version of their cookbook. I had also found an earlier edition of the book on eBay that had been published in 1949. Oh my, the recipes and stories in those cookbooks had my mind racing with possibilities!
This banana cream pie was served to Hayley and Martha Hubbard while they were probing a suspect. I chose to make a graham cracker crust, but any crust is fine. The recipe is based on the version in the 1988 cookbook.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).
Smash or whirl the crackers to crumbs.
Melt the butter. Stir the butter and sugar into the crumbs and press this mixture into the bottom and sides of a 10-inch pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes and let that cool.
Separate the eggs and set the whites aside. Beat the yolks with the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cold water until thick and smooth.
Heat the milk until it's about to boil, then cool for a few minutes and stir it very slowly into the egg mixture. Cook this mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, until the pudding thickens (about 5 minutes). Let that cool a bit and then mix in the vanilla and butter.
Slice the bananas into the pie crust. Spread the pudding on top of the bananas.
For the meringue, beat the egg whites in a clean bowl with the cream of tartar until soft peaks appear. Continue beating while slowly adding the sugar until peaks are stiff and glossy (about five minutes).
Mound the meringue onto the pudding, arranging it into peaks.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the meringue begins to brown.
Refrigerate the pie for 3 hours before serving.
If you're not serving this pie soon after chilling for 3 hours, you may want to consider tossing the sliced bananas with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.
The recipe makes a full-sized 10-inch pie. I chose to reduce the recipe and made a 7-inch sized pie to accommodate only having 2 in my household.
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