Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie with Vanilla Wafer Crust

This chocolate banana cream pie has been one of the most requested desserts in my family for years. While everyone I've ever made this for has loved it, the pie will always remind me of two of my all-time favorite people: my grandpa and my son.

Our son Corey resembled my Grandpa in both appearance and personality. They were both the oldest of their siblings. Both were hard workers, independent, and responsible from a young age. And, they both had a weakness for homemade banana cream pie and chocolate. Especially when those two things were combined.

Whenever I would ask Corey what he wanted for dessert for his birthday or another holiday like Thanksgiving, we both knew the question was just a formality. He always wanted this black bottom banana cream pie. When he graduated from high school, I made 8 of these pies for his graduation party, ensuring enough for the party and 2 leftover - 1 entire pie for Corey and another for my Grandpa.

I made this pie for the last birthday we ever celebrated with my Grandpa. And, had I known our time with our son was running out, I would have made him 1000 more.

After loosing our son earlier this year, I thought I wouldn't ever be able make his favorite recipes again... Homemade tortillas, Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon, Homemade Dinner Rolls, Chicken Pot Pie, Carnitas, and this banana cream pie.

Turns out, I've wanted to make them more. His favorite dishes are also our whole family's favorite dishes. My memories of making his favorites include the rest of us enjoying them too. And we are still here.

I don't want to loose the memories of the past. I don't want to cower from making more. 

So. I made this pie last week and took some to our youngest daughter. She sent me this text the next day...

I think I will be making this pie more often than ever.

Step-by-step photos and instructions

This pie was a hit the first time I made it, but over the years I've tinkered and tweaked the recipe to make it better and better. The recipe is simple enough to be summed up in 3 steps:

1. Crush some vanilla wafers, mix them with butter, press them into a pie plate and bake for a few minutes to set
2. Make a large batch of pastry cream. Flavor some of it with chocolate and the rest with vanilla and rum
3. Slice up a couple of bananas, whip some cream, layer it up inside the cookie crust, and you're done.

The filling is nothing less than my all-time favorite pastry cream recipe, some of it flavored with bittersweet chocolate and the rest spiked with rum and vanilla.

The pastry cream is incredibly thick, rich, creamy, and delicious. It's also incredibly stable which means you can prepare it days in advance and know that it will still be delicious.

To make the vanilla wafer crust, simply dump some crushed vanilla wafers into a bowl with a pinch of salt and nutmeg. Pour in some melted butter and stir until all the crumbs are moistened.

Press the crumbs into a pie plate, bake for 10 minutes, and let cool.

To make the chocolate and rum custard fillings, start by chopping some chocolate into small pieces and dumping them into a bowl.

Add some gelatin to a bowl and stir in about 1 tablespoon of water. Set aside.

Add the egg yolks and cornstarch to a mixing bowl and use a wire whisk to beat them together.

Add some milk, sugar, and salt to a saucepan and heat just until it begins to boil.

Slowly pour the milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so the yolks don't scramble.

Pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and begins to boil.

Pour about ½ cup of the hot pastry cream over the chopped chocolate. Let sit for a minute or two to melt the chocolate, then stir until smooth. While it's still warm, scoop it into the pie crust and spread it out into an even layer. Cover and refrigerate.

Break the gelatin into small pieces and drop them onto the remaining hot pastry cream. Stir in the vanilla extract and the rum, cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Beat ½ cup of heavy whipping cream until it's thick enough to hold its shape. Add the pastry cream and continue beating until smooth.

Cut a couple of bananas into slices and spread the slices over the chocolate pastry cream.

Spread the rum and vanilla-flavored pastry cream over the banana slices.

Beat the remaining heavy cream with some powdered sugar and use it to decorate the top of the pie.

Advanced preparation and storage instructions

The fully assembled pie will keep perfectly well for at least 24 hours. Without the whipped cream topping, the pie will keep for at lest 2 or 3 days, assuming you can keep yourself and anyone else in your home from eating it for that long, of course. 😊

From a health and safety perspective, the pie will actually keep for longer than 2 or 3 days. However, after a couple of days the crust will be a bit soggy and the bananas will be a bit browned.

There's nothing wrong with eating it, but it won't look as pretty. By the way, this has never stopped anyone in my house from eating 4-day-old leftover slices should any of this pie manage to last that long.

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