Caramelized Banana Chocolate Coconut Pie

For the last few weeks, I've been drowning in bananas. I'm putting them in cereal, eating them with Nutella, snacking with them late at night, but nothing helps. Perhaps they're reproducing on their own, no matter how many I eat, I am still overrun with mountains of bananas. Our new organic and local produce delivery service, TCF Organics, has been overly generous with their banana allocation in our weekly shipment. But this unexpected banana windfall has pushed me to get creative and inspired me to create a delicious caramelized banana and chocolate pie last weekend.

Between the caramelized bananas and the silky ganache is a thin layer of coconut, all nestled in a butter crust.

The pie looked and sounds fancy, but it actually took just a few minutes to come together thanks to a microwave ganache base and a quick and easy butter pie crust. The longest part of the process was using a kitchen blow torch to caramelize the bananas, an optional but fun touch.

This isn't the kind of dessert that you can make ahead of time as the bananas will turn soggy, but it's an impressive looking dessert. I love the combination of bananas and dark chocolate. It has a tropical flavor that is ideal on hot summer nights.

Caramelized Banana Chocolate Pie
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ingredients:
For the butter crust:
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking powder
8 tbsps (1 stick) of butter
2 to 3 tbsps cold water
For the ganache:
1/2 cup of heavy cream,
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter,
8 ounces (2 bars) of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate. For the bananas:
4 bananas
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 cups of coconut

Make the Pie Crust:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse 2 or 3 times quickly to mix. 
3. Cut the butter into 1 tbsp pieces and add to food processor. Pulse over and over again very quickly until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal. You should not be able to see any more large pieces of butter. 
4. Scatter 1 tablespoon of tap water on the butter and flour mixture and pulse 5 to 6 times. The dough should begin to hold together. If the mixture still appears dry and crumbly, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
5. Remove the dough from the food processor. In your hands, roll it into a uniform ball. Place it on a silpat or countertop sprinkled with flour and roll it out with a floured rolling pin. Then press it and shape it into a greased pie pan.
6. Line the bottom of the crust with pie weights or a bunch of dried beans.
7. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned.
8. Remove from oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.

Make the ganache:

1. Pour the heavy cream and butter in a glass bowl. Bring to a boil in the microwave by cooking for 1 minute increments until it begins to bubble. Don't let it boil over.
2. Break the chocolate into chunks and place in a mini food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped. If you don't have a food processor, you can do this with a knife.
3. Remove the hot heavy cream from the microwave. Pour the chocolate in. Stir with a spatula until chocolate is melted and smooth.
4. Spread on cakes, cupcakes, or pies. Cover the leftovers with plastic wrap and save in the fridge for up to a week. To reuse, heat in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds and stir with a spatula.

Top with Bananas and Coconut:

1. Spread the ganache on the cooled pie crust with a spatula. Don't be stingy! Biting into thick layers of chocolate in the pie is what makes it heavenly. You should have some ganache leftover from this recipe even if you are generous in your spreading.
2. Sprinkle the ganache with the coconut.
3. Cut the bananas into 1/4 inch slices. Spread on top of the coconut, overlapping the bananas slightly.
4. Sprinkle evenly with the sugar if you would like to caramelize the bananas. Using a kitchen blow torch, caramelize each banana until lightly browned. 
5. Serve immediately.

Thanksgiving Recipes: Carrot Souffle and Pecan Pie

Chefdruck's Tasty Tuesday

With less than two full days until Turkey Day, I have gone into major cooking mode. I don't host (Christmas dinner is my big feast), but I do cook up a storm. This year I am bringing stuffing, two sides, and two desserts. I've been lucky enough to be assisted by my little sous-chefs for a good part of the day and we've actually had a lot of fun!

We've made carrot souffle, pecan pie, and begun a chocolate mousse meringue cake. Still on the docket is apple sausage cornbread stuffing, and funeral potatoes. I was going to make creamed spinach, but was intrigued by Angie's entry in my Stop and Shop giveaway (it's for a $100 of gift cards and only has 22 entries!). I emailed her and she sent me the recipe in about thirty seconds. It is an elaborate concoction with sour cream and cheddar cheese - I instantly added it to my list.

I'm not going to share all my recipes or I would never be able to finish cooking, but I will share my favorite side and my take on a traditional dessert. Carrot Souffle is so sweet and delicious that it is basically cheating to not count it as dessert. But I proudly serve it next to the turkey and it disappears quickly every time. It's a great way to get kids to eat a veggie. I'm also including my recipe for pecan pie, with an easy to make homemade crust. And since I'm hooked on my new Flip video, I'll share with you a video of me pretending to be Martha as I could with the kids.

Carrot Souffle
PUDDING INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs fresh carrots boiled until soft (can use baby carrots)
6 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
6 TBSPs flour
2 TSP vanilla extract
2 sticks melted unsalted butter
Dash of Nutmeg

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:
12 TBSPs dark brown sugar
8 TBSPs melted butter
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup crushed corn flakes (feel free to make more if you want more crunchies)

To make the pudding. Put cooked carrots and eggs into food processor and puree. Add the rest of ingredients. Process until smooth.

Bake in greased 9”x13” pyrex pan at 350°F for 40 minutes.

Mix the topping ingredients together. Put the topping mixture over top of baked soufflé. Bake another 5 to 10 minutes.

You can serve after cooled for 20 minutes or reheat the next day in the microwave.
Pecan Pie
Crust:
1 ¼ cups (5 ½ oz) all-purpose unbleached flour
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking powder
8 tbsps (1 stick)
2 to 3 tbsps cold water

Filling:
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tbsps) unsalted butter, very soft
¾ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped pecans

To mix the dough by food processor, combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse 3 times at 1-second intervals to mix. Cut the butter into 1 tbsp pieces and add to the work bowl. Process, pulsing repeatedly at 1-second intervals, until the mixture is fine and powdery, resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain visible, about 15 pulses. Scatter a small amount of water on the butter and flour mixture and pulse 5 to 6 times. The dough should begin to hold together. If the mixture still appears dry and crumbly, add the remaining water, 1 teaspoon at a time.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a disk. Sandwich the disk between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and press into 6 inch disk. Refrigerate the dough until firm, or until you are ready to use it, at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375° F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to fit a 9-inch glass pie dish. Fold the edges under all the around the rim and crimp.

In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter and the sugar. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the pecans, in order, one at a time, beating well with each addition. Stir in half the pecans. Carefully pour the filling into the prepared crust. Sprinkle the remaining pecans evenly over the filling. Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until the filling is fairly set. Filling will firm up as it cools.

Allow pie to cool for 2 hours before cutting and serving.