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Dessert

Banana Cream Pie II

A pie filled with banana custard and optional meringue topping.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Banana and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,430 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

The recipe

Oven350°F (175°C)
Time12–15 minutes

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.

  2. Add milk gradually.

  3. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until bubbly.

  4. Cook and stir an additional 2 minutes and remove from burner.

  5. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks, then immediately add egg yolk mixture to hot mixture and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

  6. Remove from heat.

  7. Add butter and vanilla and stir until smooth.

Assemble and bake

  1. Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell.

  2. Top with pudding mixture and spread meringue (if desired) on top of the pie.

  3. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 12–15 minutes.

  4. Cool before serving.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Banana + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Milk + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together19,175 recipes

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

  3. Milk + buttertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together81,222 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

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

  5. Banana + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,464 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely 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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and add richness and a smooth, creamy texture.
Cornstarch
Thickens the milk mixture as it heats, giving the filling body and a sliceable set.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard filling.
Bananas
Add fruity sweetness and flavour to the filling.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, rich mouthfeel in the finished filling.

The step that matters

Cook the yolks into the hot mixture. Adding yolks to a very hot mixture without tempering can scramble them, leaving lumps. Stirring in a small amount of hot liquid first gently raises the yolks' temperature, and constant stirring while cooking for 2 minutes lets the custard thicken smoothly.

“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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