Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

Today is my friend's last round of chemo, so to celebrate, I made him a chocolate banana cream pie. Actually, I made two pies. I knew there was no way I could make this & just give it away without having a piece, so I made one for us, too.

Mike & Chrissi: I hope you guys liked the pie/quiche (ha!) & congrats for kicking some cancer ass & showing The Hodge who's boss! Now let me know when your eyebrows grow back & maybe I'll make you another pie... Love you guys!

Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

Adapted from allrecipes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 tbsp butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 9-inch pastry shell, baked

4 1-ounce squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted

2 medium, firm bananas, sliced

For Topping:

Lindt milk chocolate bar, shaved (see video)

Cool whip, thawed

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch & salt. Gradually add milk & cream until smooth. Cook & stir over medium-high heat until thickened & bubbly, about 2 minutes. Add a small amount to egg yolks; mix well. Return all to the pan. Bring to a gentle boil; cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; stir in butter & vanilla. Pour half into the pastry shell; cover & refrigerate. Add melted chocolate to remaining custard; mix well. Cover & refrigerate for 1 hour. Do not stir. Arrange bananas over filling. Carefully spoon chocolate custard over all. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Garnish with whipped cream & chocolate shavings if desired.

Notes:

In the comments on allrecipes, everyone is very insistent on constant stirring in the beginning to avoid lumps, so I did this. My arm got a little sore, but no lumps. I always have issues with tempering eggs & I did again making this pie. I had tiny bits of scrambled egg that I had to spoon out of the custard mix before it went into the refrigerator. But I haven't tasted any scrambled egg in the pie, so.... Lastly, I made the chocolate shavings per the instructions in this video & it was surprisingly easy. Who knew? All in all, this pie is really good & I definitely recommend it!