Banana Pudding Series: Episode 2
Welcome to episode 2 of the banana pudding series! Last week, we went with a sweet and salty flavor, but today we have something a little more classic and fruity — Strawberry Cheesecake Banana Pudding! Vanilla wafers and sliced bananas layered with graham crackers, a cheesecake pastry cream, and juicy strawberries! It has everything you love about a strawberry cheesecake but in the form of a light and creamy pudding.
First Up: Pastry Cream
I always like to start by making the pastry cream so that it has time to cool while we prepare the rest of the ingredients. Pour the milk into a sauce pot and heat it over medium high heat until it just comes to a simmer. In the meantime, add the egg yolks, cornstarch, granulated sugar, and salt into a bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until it turns into a pale yellow color. When the milk is simmering, remove it from the heat. Scoop a ladleful of the hot milk then slowly pour it into the egg mixture while whisking quickly to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Continue adding in the milk while whisking until half of the milk has been used.
Pour the mixture back into the pot with the remaining milk and whisk. Return the pot to the stove and heat over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the cream starts bubbling and thickens into a custard. Remove the pot from heat and add in the vanilla extract, unsalted butter, and cream cheese. Mix until the cream cheese and butter have been fully incorporated. Let the custard cool for 10 minutes. Give it a mix then add in the sour cream.
If your pastry cream is lumpy, you can pass it through a fine mesh sieve. Otherwise, transfer the pastry cream into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap makes contact with the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Place it in the fridge to cool completely. Pro tip: if you want the pastry cream to cool faster, spread it out in an even layer onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place it in the freezer to chill for 30-40 minutes. The thin layer and increased surface area will help cool it quicker.
Second: Maceration
In the meantime, add the strawberries, strawberry jam, and lemon juice into a bowl. Toss everything together and set it aside. This helps to draw out and enhance the strawberries’ juiciness and sweetness.
Now we can move on to the whipped cream. Add the heavy cream and powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the whisk attachment and mix on high speed until you get soft peaks. When the cheesecake pastry cream has cooled, mix it with a rubber spatula to loosen it. Add about 2½ cups of the whipped cream into the pastry cream. Gently fold them together until evenly combined.
Third: Assembly
Spread about half of the vanilla wafers into a 9×13 inch pan or 2½ – 3 quart baking dish. Crush 3 of the graham cracker sheets into pieces and sprinkle them over the waters. Add on a layer of the sliced bananas and then the strawberries. Spread on a layer of the pastry cream so that that bananas and strawberries are fully covered. Then spread on a layer of whipped cream. Repeat this process one more time to create another set of layers. Garnish the top with more graham cracker pieces, crushed vanilla wafers, and strawberries. For best consistency, let the banana pudding set over night.
If you’re a fan of cheesecake or fruity desserts, you’re going to love this Strawberry Cheesecake Banana Pudding. As always, we still have all the components of a classic banana pudding that we love. The pastry cream is transformed with the addition of cream cheese and sour cream. They make the pastry cream a little more decadent and develop a slight tangy flavor similar to cream cheese. Then we obviously cannot have cheesecake without graham crackers. I like the combination of the vanilla wafers and graham crackers because you still have the texture of the fluffy wafers but also the flavor of the graham crackers. Lastly, those juicy strawberries are the perfect ingredient to add a burst of flavor and cut through the creaminess of the pudding. They bring a different sense of liveliness to the banana pudding with their sweet and tart flavor. Let me know if you would make this Strawberry Cheesecake Banana Pudding in the comments below!
Strawberry Cheesecake Banana Pudding
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups Whole Milk
- 3 Large Egg Yolks
- 2 tbsp Cornstarch
- ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar
- Pinch of Salt
- 1½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp Unsalted Butter
- 8 oz Room Temperature Cream Cheese (cut into cubes)
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- 4 cups Quartered Strawberries
- 4 tbsp Strawberry Jam
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 3 cups Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 9 oz Vanilla Wafers
- 6 Graham Cracker Sheets
- 5 Bananas (sliced)
Instructions
- Pour the milk into a sauce pot and heat it over medium high heat until it just comes to a simmer. In the meantime, add the egg yolks, cornstarch, granulated sugar, and salt into a bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until it turns into a pale yellow color.
- When the milk is simmering, remove it from the heat. Scoop a ladleful of the hot milk then slowly pour it into the egg mixture while whisking quickly to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Continue adding in the milk while whisking until half of the milk has been used.
- Pour the mixture back into the pot with the remaining milk and whisk. Return the pot to the stove and heat over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the cream starts bubbling and thickens into a custard. Remove the pot from heat and add in the vanilla extract, unsalted butter, and cream cheese. Mix until the cream cheese and butter have been fully incorporated. Let the custard cool for 10 minutes. Give it a mix then add in the sour cream.
- If your pastry cream is lumpy, you can pass it through a fine mesh sieve. Otherwise, transfer the pastry cream into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap makes contact with the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Place it in the fridge to cool completely.
- In the meantime, add the strawberries, strawberry jam, and lemon juice into a bowl. Toss everything together and set it aside.
- Add the heavy cream and powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the whisk attachment and mix on high speed until you get soft peaks. When the cheesecake pastry cream has cooled, mix it with a rubber spatula to loosen it. Add about 2½ cups of the whipped cream into the pastry cream. Gently fold them together until evenly combined.
- Spread about half of the vanilla wafers into a 9×13 inch pan or 2½ – 3 quart baking dish. Crush 3 of the graham cracker sheets into pieces and sprinkle them over the waters. Add on a layer of the sliced bananas and then the strawberries. Spread on a layer of the pastry cream so that that bananas and strawberries are fully covered. Then spread on a layer of whipped cream.
- Repeat this process one more time to create another set of layers. Garnish the top with more graham cracker pieces, crushed vanilla wafers, and strawberries. For best consistency, let the banana pudding set over night. Enjoy!
