Banana Pudding Series: Episode 1
This Salted Miso Caramel Banana Pudding officially marks the beginning of my banana pudding series! I’ve always loved banana pudding, but there’s no doubt it’s become a popular dessert and flavor in the food scene this past year. I’m not a big pudding person, but banana pudding seems to be the one exception. Every time I’ve made it, people rave about it and ask for the recipe, but I was honestly making it up on the spot. So I decided to lock in and start testing in the kitchen to get a recipe out for all of you. I have an Ube Banana Pudding already up on my blog and it was a hit. That got me thinking of all the other banana pudding flavor combinations I’d love to try. So I thought why not start a banana pudding series. Starting off strong, we have a Salted Miso Caramel Banana Pudding. It has layers of vanilla wafers, sliced bananas, homemade salted miso caramel, pastry cream, and whipped cream. If you’re a sweet and salty lover, this is going to be the recipe for you.
Starting from Scratch
I know there’s plenty of shortcut banana pudding recipes out there, but I’ve always made it from scratch. I enjoy the craft of making food from scratch, and I like to believe it’s the reason everyone loves my bananas pudding. First we’ll start by making the miso caramel. Add the sugar into a heavy bottomed sauce pot. Gently shake the pan so the sugar spreads into an even layer. Carefully pour the water on top. Heat it over medium heat until it bubbles and turns into an deep amber color. It’s very crucial that you do not mix the sugar at any point in this step. It will cause the sugar to crystallize and result in a grainy texture.
Remove the pot from heat and whisk in the heavy cream. The caramel will bubble quickly when you do this. Then mix in the vanilla extract and butter. Place the pot back on low heat and add in the white miso paste. Mix for another minute until the butter has melted and the white miso paste has dissolved. Pour the caramel into a jar and set aside to cool.
Custard And Cream
Moving onto the banana pudding, we’re making a standard vanilla pastry cream. 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 mix in the vanilla extract and unsalted butter until fully incorporated. 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.
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 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.
Assembling Layers
Now that we have all of our components ready, we can assemble. Spread a layer of the vanilla wafers into a 9×13 inch pan or 2½ – 3 quart baking dish. It should be just enough to cover the bottom of the dish in a single layer. Add on a layer of the sliced bananas. Drizzle some of the salted miso caramel over the bananas. Sprinkle a touch of flaky salt on top. Then spread on a layer of the pastry cream so that that bananas are fully covered. Drizzle another layer of the caramel on top. Then spread on a layer of whipped cream.
Repeat this process one more time to create another set of layers. Garnish the top with a drizzle of the caramel. Crush any remaining vanilla wafers into pieces and sprinkle them on top. Finish with some flaky salt. For best consistency, let the banana pudding set over night.
Sweet, Salty, and Umami
This Salted Miso Caramel Banana Pudding is a sweet and salty lover’s dream. The miso in the caramel adds a savory, umami depth that makes it addictive. The flavors and subtle variety of textures keeps you intrigued. It’s creamy but with each spoonful you get the tender bananas and a soft bite from the vanilla wafers. Another key factor that I think makes this banana pudding so good is I mix the pastry cream with the whipped cream. Pastry cream alone can be thick and heavy. So by folding in the some of the whipped cream, it really helps to lighten it. There’s no doubt that this dessert is creamy and indulgent, but it simultaneously feel like you’re eating a cloud. I’m so excited to share more banana pudding recipes with you in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, give this Salted Miso Caramel Banana Pudding a try!
Salted Miso Caramel Banana Pudding
Ingredients
For the Salted Miso Caramel:
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- ½ cup Water
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 4 tbsp Room Temperature Unsalted Butter (cut into 4 pieces)
- 2 ½ tbsp White Miso Paste
For the Banana Pudding:
- 2 cups Whole Milk
- 5 Large Egg Yolks
- 3 tbsp Cornstarch
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- ⅛ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 3 cups Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 11 oz Vanilla Wafers
- 6 Bananas sliced
Instructions
For the Salted Miso Caramel:
- Add the sugar into a heavy bottomed sauce pot. Gently shake the pan so the sugar spreads into an even layer. Carefully pour the water on top. Heat it over medium heat, without stirring at any point, until it bubbles and turns into an deep amber color.
- Remove the pot from heat and whisk in the heavy cream. The caramel with bubble quickly when you do this. Then mix in the vanilla extract and butter. Place the pot back on low heat and add in the white miso paste. Mix for another minute until the butter has melted and the white miso paste has dissolved. Pour the caramel into a jar and set aside to cool.
For the Banana Pudding:
- 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 mix in the vanilla extract and unsalted butter until fully incorporated.
- 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.
- 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 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 a layer of the vanilla wafers into a 9×13 inch pan or 2½ – 3 quart baking dish. It should be just enough to cover the bottom of the dish in a single layer. Add on a layer of the sliced bananas. Drizzle some of the salted miso caramel over the bananas. Sprinkle a touch of flaky salt on top. Then spread on a layer of the pastry cream so that that bananas are fully covered. Drizzle another layer of the caramel on top. Then spread on a layer of whipped cream.
- Repeat this process one more time to create another set of layers. Garnish the top with a drizzle of the caramel. Crush any remaining vanilla wafers into pieces and sprinkle them on top. Finish with some flaky salt. For best consistency, let the banana pudding set over night. Enjoy!
