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Dessert

Maya Angelou's Banana Pudding

A custard dessert layered with vanilla wafers, bananas, and meringue topping.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and banana are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,430 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Maya Angelou's Banana Pudding

Oven350°F
Timeabout 20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

  2. In a large saucepan, combine 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt; stir until blended.

  3. Mix in milk.

  4. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened and boiling.

  5. Boil 1 minute, then remove from heat.

  6. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks.

  7. Whisk in about 1/2 cup of hot custard until blended.

  8. Pour yolk mixture back into saucepan of custard; cook over medium heat, stirring, 2 minutes.

  9. Stir in butter and vanilla until blended.

Layer and top

  1. Place vanilla wafers on bottom of a shallow 2-quart casserole dish.

  2. Top with layers of banana slices and custard.

  3. Repeat layering, ending with custard.

Make the meringue and bake

  1. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar at low speed until frothy.

  2. Add cream of tartar; increase speed to medium and gradually beat in remaining sugar.

  3. Beat until egg whites hold stiff peaks.

  4. Spoon meringue over hot custard immediately, making sure that meringue touches baking dish on all sides.

  5. Transfer to oven and bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

  6. Remove pudding from oven and cool 1 hour.

  7. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1001Calories
29 gProtein
32 gFat
148 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Banana1 medium (118g)105
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Vanilla + bananatop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks thicken the custard and whites whip into a stable meringue topping.
Cornstarch
Thickens the milk mixture into a smooth, sliceable custard as it heats.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and meringue and helps stabilize the whipped egg whites.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing moisture and body.
Bananas
Provide fruity flavor and moisture between the wafer and custard layers.
Vanilla wafers
Soften as they soak up custard, giving the pudding its structure and texture.

The step that matters

Spoon meringue over hot custard immediately. Meringue must seal to the edges of the dish while the custard is hot; spreading it on cooled custard can lead to weeping and poor sealing at the edges.

Swap the banana

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, egg, butter, vanilla, cream):

  1. Strawberryfits about as well
  2. Coconutfits about as well
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Bananathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, egg, butter, vanilla, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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