One of my favorite desserts of all time is this wonderful, creamy tart. Whether you enjoy it as a pie or a tart there is no denying this dessert is soft and divine.
The marriage of banana and cream is a match made in food heaven! The buttery crust and the layers of the soft creamy filling are delicious! Need I say more?
To know how to make it…
Keep Reading!
To jump to any section of the recipe just click on any of the following: the crust, the filling, assembly
Tart Crust: Pâte Sucrée
This is the basic tart dough recipe. The main difference between a pie and a tart is the texture of the crust. Pies normally aim for a crisp, flaky crust, while tart crust’s are typically firm and crumbly.
| Ingredients | Tools |
| 250 g flour (~1 1/4 cups) 125 g butter 1 egg 125 g sugar pinch of salt 1 egg white (for egg white wash) |
1 large bowl, 1 small bowl wooden spoon sieve plastic wrap rolling pin tart pan parchment paper pie weights [I use rice] pastry brush |
Cream butter [I like doing this with a wooden spoon]. Add sugar and mix thoroughly until light and fluffy [see below].
Beat the egg before adding it to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix until well incorporated. Add the sifted flour all at once and mix until combined. Form into a disk and wrap it with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 min in the fridge (about half that time in the freezer).
Roll out and line the pan. Remove excess dough by rolling your pin on top of the tart pan. Put the pan back in the fridge for about 20 min.
Lightly prick the pastry with a fork. To prevent the dough from shrinking, while baking, I place parchment paper (or aluminum foil) on top of the dough and place rice (or any type of uncooked grain) as my pie weights. Preheat oven to 400ºF and bake pastry at this temperature for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350ºF and bake for 20 more minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Take it out of the oven and remove pie weights. With a pastry brush, sweep egg white wash on the pastry, return to the oven for 2 more min [the wash will seal the dough and prevent it from getting soggy].
Filling: Vanilla pastry cream
| Ingredients | Tools |
| 1 1/4 c of milk 1 1/2 tblsp sugar 1 egg yolk 1 1/2 tblsp corn starch 1/4 vanilla pod |
small sauce pan wooden spoon sieve medium bowl plastic wrap |
In a small saucepan simmer 1 c of milk, sugar, and vanilla. Dissolve corn starch in the rest of the milk. Once the milk is simmering carefully add it to the egg yolk on a steady stream, while constantly whisking. Add dissolved corn starch to the mixture. Return content to the pot and let it simmer for at least 5 min, occasionally stirring to avoid lumps/burning. Make sure mixture is thick and coats the back of the spoon {also I would check the taste to rectify if needed}. Strain and reserve [cover with plastic wrap].
Assembly
3 bananas, cut into thin rounds
1 c whipping cream, whipped until stiff peaks
Once the crust and the pastry cream have reached room temperature you can start assembling the tart. Layer the bottom of the tart with banana rounds. Add a layer of pastry cream, you can make it as thick or as thin as you want {if your pastry is not too shallow, you can do as many layers of banana and pastry as you want}. Now is time to decorate so have fun! Use the rest of the banana and whipped cream. I like showing a bit of banana on the top of the tart.
I hope you enjoyed this & thanks for reading!
Kitchen Nani 