'Naner Pudding Recipe

1/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1½ cups whole milk
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 to 20 vanilla wafers
2 large ripe bananas, sliced
2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
4 to 5 teaspoons hot water
1 cup heavy cream (not whipped)

1. Mix together the sugar, salt, and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Add the evaporated milk and whole milk. Cook in the top of a double boiler or in a small saucepan set in a larger one filled with several inches of water, stirring frequently, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.
2. Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl and add about ½ cup of the warm pudding, stirring, then add the yolks to the pudding, whisking it vigorously. Cook for 3 minutes longer, continuing to stir. Mix in the vanilla. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
3. Layer the vanilla wafers and bananas in an 8-inch square baking dish.
4. Melt the brown sugar in the hot water, creating a thick paste. Stir the paste into the pudding just enough to create streaks. Pour this over the wafers and bananas. Refrigerate.
5. When the pudding is well chilled, whip the cream, spread it gently across the top, and serve. Serves 6 to 8.

Recipe from Jane and Michael Stern’s Two for the Road: Our Love Affair with American Food (Houghton Mifflin, 2006, www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com).