Regular banana pudding falls a bit flat for me. The secret? Roasted banana pudding!
Roasting the bananas brings out their sweetness, and then you can blend the roasted puree right into the pudding as well as in layering sliced fresh banana.
The dulce de leche is a nice touch, too, bringing a bit deeper flavor and caramel notes to what can often be a somewhat too sweet and often bland dessert. Sorry, fellow Southerners.
If this sounds like a good plan to you, please stick around and grab the recipe for dulce de leche roasted banana pudding!
Baking for Friends
I got a text from Neighbor Thomas last week.
“Do you make banana pudding? Have someone with a birthday next week if you’re interested.”
To which I responded, “I haven’t, but I could!”
I don’t really like bananas all that much, although I could be persuaded to change my tune after that daiquiri, but I never say no to Neighbor Thomas.
When he asks for a dessert sometimes I get to make cake for Webby. And sometimes I inadvertently help him cheat to win an award. And sometimes I end up baking Skynet cake.
A Non-Traditional Banana Pudding
Fortunately, Thomas is not a traditional dude, so I didn’t feel obliged to make a traditional banana pudding.
I asked on my PCO Facebook page how folks make their banana puddings, and I got some really great ideas.
Gary, who bakes extraordinary pies, offered a version with a “salted caramel sauce” in the topping along with some cream cheese, and that got me thinking about dulce de leche, especially after another friend mentioned using sweetened condensed milk in her banana pudding.
How to Make Dulce de Leche
As far as I’m concerned, the primary reason for owning cans of sweetened condensed milk is to make dulce de leche.
I like mine to be super thick and very darkly caramelized, so here’s how I do it:
- Put a can or three into a large pot in water deep enough to cover them by about an inch
- Turn on the heat and when the water reaches a boil,
- Keep it at a low boil for three hours, making sure to add water when necessary to keep the cans submerged.
- After the time is up, let the cans cool down in the water.
- Boil yours for half the time if you still want your dulce de leche to be pourable. It will not be as deeply flavored, but it will still be tasty!
Video Tutorial: Making Dulce de Leche from Sweetened Condensed Milk
You can watch Chef John make pourable dulce de leche on YouTube.
Roasted Banana Pudding: The Components
Once I had the dulce de leche, my next thought was to roast some bananas and put them in my custard, because I don’t understand using vanilla pudding to make a banana pudding.
Why not layer in as much banana flavor as you can? Really commit to the banana pudding.
The resulting flavor of the pudding was lovely–sweetly banana-y and dulce-ish. Really good.
The next consideration was the cookies.
Cookies are a vital part of the whole structure of banana pudding. They’re there for textural contrast, although most folks like them to soften up in the pudding somewhat.
After long and serious consideration, and after I realized that I did not want to purchase vanilla wafers as I had a whole crate of Lorna Doone shortbread cookies here, I decided to throw caution to the wind and deviate even further from the standard by losing the Nillas and going with shortbread.
I highly recommend this course of action. The shortbread is nice and buttery and a bit more savory than vanilla wafers, and they worked beautifully.
Tips for Success
A couple of caveats before I share the recipe, friends. Because I want you to be successful and Not Curse.
- Take the labels off the cans of sweetened condensed milk and clean off all the glue before setting them in your pan to boil. Otherwise, you will end up with a ring of glue around your pan, and it will be Very, Very hard to get off. If it does happen to you, scrub really well with baking soda. (That’s what worked for me. The glue just laughed at my hot, soapy water).
- After you roast your bananas, puree them in a blender and then smoosh them through a strainer. It will be easier to do now than it will be if you wait and try to strain after you make your custard. If you do throw caution to the wind and wait, don’t use your fine strainer because the banana goo will just get stuck in all the wee openings and you will be very sad.
More Old-Fashioned Desserts You Might Enjoy
If you’re a fan of pudding and custards and other old fashioned desserts, consider these options, friends:
High Praise for This Roasted Banana Pudding
This is the text I received from Thomas on Wednesday morning:
“Your dessert was a hit again! You’re a legend at the DOT.”
Mission Accomplished.
I do hope you give this pudding a try. The dulce de leche adds a subtle yet complex caramel note that is really rather sophisticated and plays really nicely with the bananas.
The Difference Between Dulce de Leche and Caramel (For Those Who Care)
While many people refer to dulce de leche as caramel sauce the two are very different from each other. Granted, they taste similar and even look similar, but they take two very different paths to get to their finished state.
Caramel sauce derives the majority of its flavor and complexity from the caramelization of sugar, namely glucose and fructose, the two sugars that make up table sugar, or sucrose. Once the cream is added, you might simmer it for awhile, but the milk sugars in the cream never really get hot enough to brown.
Dulce de leche, on the other hand, starts with both sugar and milk together, so not only are you getting flavor from the caramelization of sugars (glucose and fructose from the sugar and lactose from the milk), you’re also getting additional complexity through the Maillard reactions that occur when amino acids (from the milk proteins) are exposed to heat.
To my palate, dulce de leche is both mellower and more complex than caramel. It has a nice roundness of flavor that fills up your mouth and doesn’t have the bitter edge that caramel has.
Please don’t misunderstand—I love a bitter-edged caramel sauce; I’m just pointing out the differences between two equally lovely sauces/confections.
Dulce de Leche Roasted Banana Pudding
A reader pointed out that this dessert is sort of like a banoffee pie in pudding form. I would have to agree. This recipe is scaled to make an 11"x7" baking dish worth (or you can make all individuals). Feel free to scale as required. NOTE: All ounce measurements are by weight.
Ingredients
For the Roasted Bananas
- 2 large bananas
For the Custard
- Roasted banana puree
- 32 oz whole milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup corn starch
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, (or as sweet as you like)
- 1/2 cup dulce de leche, (the thicker and darker, the more flavor)
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, (or to taste)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
For the Topping
- 6 oz (3/4 block) softened cream cheese
- 6 oz dulce de leche, (the thicker and darker, the more flavor)
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar, (or as sweet as you like)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, (you want this part to be fairly assertively salted)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 8 oz heavy cream or whipping cream
To Build
- A lot of cookies of your choice: vanilla wafers, , shortbread, etc. The Lorna Doones were lovely.
- 4-6 large bananas, , ripe but not overly so
Instructions
To Roast the Bananas
- Remove the labels from the bananas but leave the skins on.
- Place the bananas on a lined baking sheet and bake them at 350F for about 30 minutes. They will swell a bit and turn very dark brown all over.
- Let them cool, then slit the skins and remove the sweet, roasted insides.
- Puree the bananas and then press through a medium strainer.
For the Custard
- Place the milk, yolks, corn starch, sugar, dulce de leche and salt in a large, heavy saucepan.
- Put the banana puree and vanilla in a bowl large enough to hold the custard. Set a fine mesh strainer over the bowl and keep close to the stove.
- Heat the custard over medium heat, stirring or whisking constantly, until it comes just to a boil. Before it gets too hot, taste and adjust the sugar/salt if necessary, but remember that you'll be stirring in some sweet banana puree later.
- Turn the heat down a bit and let boil for about 45 seconds, whisking all the while. The mixture will be quite thick.
- Press the custard through the strainer and stir well to incorporate the roasted banana puree and the vanilla.
- Set aside.
For the Topping
- In your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add the dulce de leche and whip until creamy and well incorporated, scraping the bowl as necessary, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the sugar salt and vanilla and beat another minute more.
- Pour in 1/4 (about 2 ounces) of the whipping cream and beat for a few seconds until incorporated and thick.
- Add another fourth of the cream and whip again.
- Add the rest in two more additions, whipping for 20-30 seconds with each addition and scraping the bowl as necessary. The mixture should be thick and hold its shape.
To Build
- It is entirely up to you how you layer in all of your ingredients, but here's how I made mine:
- Spread a very thin layer of pudding in the bottom of the serving dish--using about 1/4-1/3 cup of pudding. Just enough to keep the cookies from sliding.
- Add a layer of cookies, placing them close together.
- Spread about 1 cup of custard over the cookies and top with a layer of sliced bananas.
- Spread another cup of custard evenly over the bananas and top with another layer of cookies.
- Spread another cup of custard evenly over the cookies and top with another layer of bananas.
- Spread the last of the custard (there won't be much less) in a thin layer over the bananas. Top with another layer of cookies.
- Spread or decoratively pipe the topping over the cookies.
- Chill for at least four hours or overnight, depending on how much texture you want your cookies to have. They'll get softer the longer they sit.
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 435Total Fat 21gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 117mgSodium 368mgCarbohydrates 56gFiber 3gSugar 38gProtein 8g
The stated nutritional information is provided as a courtesy. It is calculated through third party software and is intended as a guideline only.
And there you have it. I hope you enjoy the pudding!
Thanks for spending some time here with me today. Have a great day.
Dionne Baldwin says
I hate it when glue laughs at me! Thanks for the tips so I can save the cursing for when I reeeeally mean it! And thank you for clearing up about the Dulce de Leche. Yannick is crazy for it and I want to try it just to see what the fuss is about. Caramel is good too but…you know.
You’re already a legend with me and I haven’t even tried the roasted banana pudding! What a great idea with the roasting. Beautiful pudding my friend!
Jennifer Field says
I curse so that you don’t have to, Dionne! That should be my new motto! lol =)
I think you will love the dulce–it is a very sexy dessert component. And enjoy the pudding!
Chef Avoir Chaud says
OMG this looks absolutely fabulous! Thank you for the recipe. I rarely eat banana pudding, but seeing this recipe and photos has my mouth watering.
Jennifer Field says
I hope you enjoy it, Avoir! Good stuff! =)
Denise says
What a perfect dessert! I love roasted bananas, and you made them even better with dulce de leche. Wishing we were neighbors!
Jennifer Field says
Thanks, Denise! I’m starting to come around to the whole banana thing, finally! I think the daiquiri helped quite a bit. As did the dulce de leche! lol
I would happily share with you!
Jamie says
Really commit to the banana pudding? A whole crate of Lorna Doones? Ha ha ha that is why you are my friend! These are stupendous, my friend, and the beautiful little swirly action makes them even more mouthwatering and desirable! Lucky Thomas! Lucky Beloved if he gets any 🙂 That is one masterful, decadent Banana Pudding!!
Jennifer Field says
I really did own a whole crate of Lorna Doones! I think the huge box contained 30 6-packs of them. Warehouse stores will make you buy odd things. lol And the Beloved got 1. I gave one to neighbor Chuck for making Lester’s and Sam’s collars, and I’m a legend at the DOT. Everybody wins! =)
Brooks says
I’m a dark dulce dude too. I started making my first batches in a Kamenstein cow tea kettle a couple of lifetimes ago. But you dear Jenni, have raised the dulce bar in this glorious banana dessert. A lovely presentation in another lovely visit to your place. Brava!
Jennifer Field says
You should be a motivational speaker in your next life, Brooks! Or maybe you were in a previous one. I always appreciate your visits and your comments. Enjoy the pudding. =)
Betty Ann @Mango_Queen says
Oh my goodness! These dulce de leche roasted banana pudding looks amazing. I got weak in the knees the more I read the recipe. It is very hard to step away from the computer screen after this. You are an awesome neighbor and good friend, Jenni. Thanks for generously sharing this recipe with the rest of us.
Jennifer Field says
Thanks, Betty Ann! =) Very good stuff. I’m glad Thomas asked, or I would never have made it!
Carly says
If I just wanted to make banana pudding could I omit the dulce de leche? Would I need to replace it with something?
Thanks
Jennifer Field says
You absolutely could! I’d just replace it with an equal amount of sweetened condensed milk. I think that would be easiest. You may need to up the salt and vanilla a smidge, but it would certainly work. Enjoy, Carly, and thanks for stopping by with the question!
Kaitlin Weiler says
This looks heavenly! What an elegant update to a classic dessert.
Jennifer Field says
Thanks so much, Kaitlin! I must say that I have never been a real fan of bananas, but this was just delicious! =)
Eva says
OMG. This sounds freakin’ fantastic! I’d sub the cornstarch and the lorna doones, due to my corn allergy, but I could easily make my own shortbread. Wow.
Jennifer Field says
Sounds like you have a plan! I hope you love it, Eva–and thanks for stopping by!
Sandi says
I am a sucker for banana desserts and this pudding is next on my list to make!!
Jennifer Field says
Roasting the bananas makes a big difference–very intensely banana-y! I hope you enjoy it!
Laura says
OMG you’ve outdone yourself – AGAIN! Love that you roasted the bananas. Can’t wait to try this!
Jennifer Field says
Thanks, Laura! the dulce goes really well with the roasted banana, and I think Lorna Doones are more interesting that Nilla Wafers. (Sorry, Nilla Wafers! lol)