Banana Cream Tart

Here we are again, at the end of another month, and I’ve once again had no time to prepare a post. Well, “no time” is a lie, since it’s not like I haven’t had any time at all. Just not enough energy, perhaps. There were holidays and a lot of cooking and social events, to be totally fair.

A couple of years ago, I made a banana cream tart from the Miette cookbook. Except instead of following her instructions for pâte sucrée and pastry cream, I just went with my usual recipes. Which made this whole thing much easier.

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Banana Cream Tart
from Miette

Pastry Cream
2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 egg
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crust
1 cup flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

1 ounce semisweet chocolate, melted
2 large ripe bananas
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 cup chocolate shavings

  1. Make the pastry cream by first stirring together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar in a saucepan until it comes to a boil.
  2. Put the egg yolks, egg, cornstarch, and 1/3 cup sugar into a bowl, and whisk them together.
  3. Pour the boiling milk in a thin stream over the egg mixture, while you’re continuously stirring, so that the eggs don’t turn into scrambled eggs.
  4. Then after that’s all mixed together, return the mixture to the saucepan, and bring to a boil while constantly stirring. The bottom can burn if you’re not stirring enough, so be careful.
  5. Once it comes to a boil, take it off the heat, and put in the butter and vanilla extract.
  6. Once those are stirred in, let cool in the fridge, with some plastic wrap over the surface so it doesn’t form a skin.
  7. Make the crust by mixing together the flour, brown sugar, and flour, and then press into a 9-inch tart pan.
  8. Bake the crust at 400F for 9-10 minutes, until golden brown.
  9. Let the crust cool completely.
  10. Spread the melted chocolate on the bottom of the cooled tart shell.
  11. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes or until set.
  12. Cut the bananas into 1/4-inch slices.
  13. Arrange the banana slices in a single layer over the layer of melted chocolate.
  14. Spread the cooled pastry cream over the bananas, smoothing the surface with a spatula.
  15. Whip the heavy cream using a hand mixer or stand mixer until soft peaks form.
  16. Add the powdered sugar and continue whipping the cream until it has stiff peaks.
  17. Spread the whipped cream over the pastry cream.
  18. Sprinkle the chocolate shavings over the surface of the whipped cream.

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The usual crust, pressed into the tart pan.

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The crust, after baking.

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The melted chocolate spread over the bottom of the crust.

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The sliced bananas, arranged on the chocolate.

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And then the pastry cream goes on top of that.

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And then a layer of whipped cream. The book says to make a “charming constellation” using a pastry bag with a star tip, but I just spread the whipped cream over the top.

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Finally, the chocolate shavings on top.

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The bananas are delicious with the pastry cream and the slight chocolate flavor from the melted chocolate layer and shavings on top.

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