Jevay I have had banana pudding at every family function that I can remember attending. From family reunions, to funerals, to the ever entertaining cook outs in the backyard over the summer! One thing’s for sure and two things are certain, I am always happy to see banana pudding on the menu. A true banana pudding should have a creamy pudding (or custard if you’re fancy), a dollop of whip cream, and be packed full of ripe bananas! Now, you would think that I wouldn’t have to say that bananas should be in banana pudding, but I’ve heard scandalous rumors about the people wanting banana pudding with no bananas. It’s blasphemous I tell you!
Now, in my opinion, banana puddings are trifles by any other name! According to my fellow food historians, trifles are of British origin from around the 18th century. Cooks would make trifles out of pieces of stale cake that would be soaked in alcohol and then layered with fruit and custard in an ornate decorated glass bowl. Eventually trifles and their glass bowls would sail the blue seas and end up in the States.
Most people think that banana pudding originated in the South. However, the first recipes for banana pudding in the United States were actually published in the northeastern part of the country in Massachusetts in the mid-1800s! The South would have needed the most important ingredient to banana pudding (the bananas, in case you’re wondering) in order to make this dish and they just didn’t have access to it.
It wasn’t until the advent of steamships in the late 1800s that brought bananas from the Caribbean and Latin America to the southern states. Of course with a more substantial supply of bananas, you had more recipes that featured bananas! The recipes originally included banana pudding with slices of cake following the traditional trifle recipes set by the British. However, in 1921, the banana pudding recipe that most Americans consume now was published in a newspaper called “Pantagraph” in Illinois. Laura Kerley submitted a recipe that featured vanilla custard, fresh bananas, and Nabisco Nilla Wafers. This recipe was a hit, and in the 1940s Nabisco added this recipe on their Nilla Wafers box and it is still there today!
Now, my banana pudding has a couple of twists in it! First, I’ve ditched the cookies and opted for my famous butter pound cake instead! I love the idea of eating a traditional trifle, and nothing warms my heart more than a delectable butter pound. I went with a pound cake that was sweet, moist, and didn’t add too many competing flavors to the banana pudding. This is a very easy pound cake to put together, but requires additional resting time because of the glaze.
The glaze is made with simple ingredients: butter, vanilla extract, sugar, and water. You add all of those ingredients in a small saucepan on the stove and allow them to combine as the butter is melting. When the cake is removed from the oven create small holes in the cake with a toothpick or slits with a butter knife. I try to make as many slits as possible. Then you pour the hot glaze onto the cake and allow it to soak fully into the cake. I usually plan to let the cake soak for 4-5 hours before flipping it out. Once I’ve flipped the cake out, I slice it into small squares and set it to the side.
The second twist that my banana pudding has is the addition of sweetened condensed milk with the rest of the custard ingredients! This ingredient helps make the custard taste creamier and thicker than it originally would! I use the entire 14 ounce can. I add the vanilla instant pudding mix, 2 cups of whole milk, the entire can of sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract. This wet mixture will need a really good stir. I prefer to use an electronic mixer like a Kitchen-Aid, or a hand mixer. Mixing really well will prevent lumps from forming. However, should you get lumps anyway (you’ll see mine in my video below), the pudding will still taste quite delicious and you won’t be able to feel the lumps in your mouth! But, if the lumps will drive you nuts make sure that you stir thoroughly for about 3-5 minutes before placing the wet mixture in the fridge to set.
The assembly for banana pudding is quite simple. I start with a layer of sliced pound cake, then add the thinly slice bananas, then finally top with the custard! I continue to build layers until I’m out of all of the ingredients. For this recipe you’ll get about 3 full layers!
So, what do you think? Ready to ditch the cookies and try cake? If you take the plunge, I’d love to see and hear about it! Tag me on Instagram @jevaydanielle_ or leave a review below!
Happy Reading, Happy Eating,
-jevaydanielle
Southern Banana Pudding
Ingredients
Butter Pound Cake
- 1 cup butter room temp
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs room temp
- 2 tbs vanilla extract
- 3 cups of AP flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
Glaze
- 3/4 Cup sugar
- 2 tbs water
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Banana Pudding
- 4-5 Ripe Bananas
- 3.4 ounce box of instant vanilla pudding
- 2 cups whole milk
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 ounces cool whip
Instructions
Pound Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Spray a bundt pan with PAM, Baker’s Joy, or use flour and butter to coat the pan.
- Cream the sugar and butter for 2-4 minutes.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl add all of the dry ingredients.
- Alternatively add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients pausing 1/2 halfway to add 1/2 of the buttermilk. Add the remaining flour and remaining milk.
- Mix for 1 more minute and then transfer to the bundt pan.
- Bake for at least 45-55 minutes.
Glaze
- For the glaze: Add the ingredients into a small saucepan and stir until the glaze has come together. Do not allow it to cool.
- When the cake is done poke holes in the cake using a butterknife or a toothpick. Pour the glaze over the cake and allow the cake to rest in the bundt pan for 2-3 hours at least. Then flip the cake out.
Banana Pudding and Assembly
- Add all of the pudding ingredients into a bowl and stir!
- Let the pudding “set” in the fridge for at least 15-30 minutes.
- Once the pudding is set you’re ready to assemble your banana pudding trifle.
- Slice the cake into small squares. Layers those first.
- Then slice the bananas and create a layer of those.
- Top with a layer of pudding and then begin again.
