Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Banana and Cream Cobbler Pie


You will have to to forgive me, but this time, the light wasn't on my side. As much as I tried to take a decent picture of my last creation, it just wouldn't come out right. I also hate using a flash, which makes everything look crude and over exposed. I'm trying to tell myself that after all, I'm not in a studio and my camera can only do so much. This is a real home and I have to work with what I have. 
What I can tell you for sure, is that this was one of the best pies I have eaten in the last few years. Yes, it was that good. I'll confess, I'm not even such a pie lover, but damn, it was good.
Without further ado, I present you...

Banana and Cream Cobbler Pie

There are basically three parts to this recipe. The pie crust, the filling and the crumble that goes on top. As you'll see, it's actually easier to make than it looks.

Ingredients

Pie crust
85 g unsalted butter
115 g sugar
3 g table salt
265 g flour
5 g baking powder
100 g cream (32%)

Cinnamon Crumble
120 g unsalted butter
175 g of sugar
140 g of flour
140 g of almond flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
12 g of cointreau

Banana and Cream Filling
500 g of ripe bananas
1/3 of a vanilla bean (grated) or 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
100 g of sugar
150 g of cream (32%)
20 g of corn flour
1/2 lemon juice


Method
The pie crust
Using a mixer, cream the butter with the sugar and the salt. Start adding the flour mixed with the baking soda and alternate with the cream, until the dough comes together. Do not over work. Wrap in cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.


The crumble topping
No need to wash your mixer. Just put all the ingredients for the crumble in it and run the mixer at medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes.
Pick all the bits together, cover and set aside.

The banana and cream filling
Mash the bananas with a fork and grate your vanilla bean. Put these in a small pan, together with the sugar, cream and lemon juice. Start cooking on low heat for about 10 minutes. Dissolve the corn flour with 1 to 2 tablespoons of cold water and add to the banana cream, letting it cook for just another minute.
Remove from heat and let it cool.



Putting everything together...
Start rolling out the dough for the pie crust (5 mm thick). This dough is not always easy to handle, so if you have a hard time, use a piece of waxed paper both under and over the dough while rolling it. 
Lay it down carefully in the pie pan. I used a 28 cm wide pan by the way.



Fill with the cooled banana cream, spreading it out nice and evenly.

To put the crumble on top,  I used a funnel with a large nozzle to push down thick ropes of crumble dough. I suppose there might be other ways, but this actually worked pretty well for me. Though it might seem like a good idea, don't try to use a pastry bag. 
Once you got all your dough made into little cylinders, spread it out over the banana filling.
Cook at 180 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes or until the top is nice and golden brown.

Let it cool a bit before removing from pan. Finish with a generous sifting of powdered sugar and serve warm with your favorite ice cream on top. Vanilla... chocolate... even strawberry. 

What I really love about this pie, is that the those big chunks on top actually become like crunchy cinnamon butter cookies. Yum.


Cheers all!
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2 comments:

  1. This looks amazing!!! What do you mean the photo is not good!! It looks awesome!! Great job my dear!!! Came over from Tasty Kitchen!! So glad I did!
    Have a great day!
    Mama Holli

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  2. Okay Mama Alexandra,,,,,,,,,,,,I have posted you up my dear!!
    http://nobodyputsmamainacorner.blogspot.com/2010/03/mama-alexandra-can-cook.html

    Check it out! I hope it brings you some followers!!! So fun to watch your blog grow!! Enjoy your babies!
    Mama Holli

    ReplyDelete