Banana Caramel

Some may say I’m a bit obsessed with desserts… and I’m sure they’re right.  A few weeks ago I was laying in bed late at night, dreaming up the creation I have for you today.  Mind you, it’s nothing all that ground breaking… but it sure is delicious!  A layer of rich pastry cream, fresh bananas, whipped cream, caramel sauce (optional - you can use any sauce), and a cracker crust (i used Muesli). 

Each element is pretty tasty on it’s own, but when layered together they create a pretty amazing dessert!

Banana Caramel Cream Dessert

Ingredients~

Vanilla Custard (recipe below)

Bananas (I used two bananas for 6 small dessert servings)

Good quality caramel sauce, or dulce de leche or any sauce of your choice

Fresh whipped cream (I used 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar)

Cracker crumble (recipe below)

Vanilla Pastry Cream

3 cups whole milk

1/2 tin condensed Milk (sweet as per your taste)

1 tblspn Custard Powder - dissolve in cold milk

1 tspn vanilla essence

1 tblspn butter

Directions:

In a medium bowl,  pour in milk & condensed milk and boil, while whisking add the custard powder to the hot milk stirring all the time, to make a smooth mixture.  Cook over medium heat, stirring almost constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils.   

Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.  Set aside to cool.  When the pan has cooled, place in the refrigerator to fully cool. 

Cracker Crumbles - Muesli or even corn flakes

1 1/2 cups cracker crumbs 

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions:

Crush crackers in a large ziplock type bag.  Pour crumbs, sugar and melted butter into a bowl and , stir until fully combined.  Pour into a 9″x13″ casserole dish and press into a even layer.  Bake at 350*F for 10-12 minutes, until light brown.  Allow to cool.

Dessert assembly~

(pictured below as well)

1.  Spoon about 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumble into individual serving dishes.  Use a small glass to press the crumble into a firm layer (as pictured below).

2.  Add a layer of custard cream into each dish. 

3.  Add a few slices of banana.

4.  Top bananas with a layer of whipped cream.

5.  Add some cracker crumble and a drizzle of caramel (scoop caramel or dulce de leche into a small ziplock bag and snip off the end for easy application).

Repeat layers 2-5

Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 3 hours.  Top with a slice of fresh banana just before serving.

Note:  I used 6 small dessert dishes.   If you make 6 desserts, you will have custard cream and cracker crumble left over.  If you want to make more desserts, or one large trifle dish, you will have enough custard cream and cracker crumble for 10-12 individual desserts.  For a large trifle, or more than 6 individual desserts I would double the amount of whipped cream listed above.

Recipe Source- Final recipe by Glorious Treats.

Alterations:  The recipes posted above are what I used, if you’d like to experiment with substitutions, such as using prepared pudding mix in place of the pastry cream, or cool whip in place of the whipped cream, feel free, but I can not attest to the results.

Press graham cracker crumble into individual dishes.

Add a layer of pastry cream and bananas.

Top bananas with whipped cream, graham cracker crumble and caramel.  Repeat layers.

Enjoy!