Banana Cream Cheese Pie
Looking for a cool, summer dessert? This will go great with a simple family meal or it will be sure to wow your dinner party guests.....and their taste buds! This pie covers several components of any modern, classic dessert. Starting with a sweet, crumbly, and crunchy crust, with a light and airy filling and finally, topped with a melt-in-your-mouth garnishing of caramelized bananas. This will surely be a crowd-pleaser!
Servings: 8 yield(s)
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 40 mins
Ingredients
    Crumb Crust
  • 1 3/4 cup Nilla wafer cookies (179g baker's measure)
  • pinch salt
  • 2 tbsp sugar (25g baker's measure)
  • 1 tbsp packed, dark brown sugar (13g baker's measure)
  • 1/4 tsp saigon cinnamon (1g baker's measure)
  • 1/2 cup melted, unsalted butter (112g baker's measure)
  • 2 medium bananas (236g baker's measure)
  • as needed lemon juice (as needed)
    • Filling
  • 1 cup cream cheese (225g baker's measure)
  • 14 oz sweetened condensed milk (397g baker's measure)
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice (76g baker's measure)
  • 2 tbsp vanilla bean dark rum simple syrup (32g baker's measure)
    • Caramelized Bananas
  • 2 large bananas (272g baker's measure)
  • as needed sugar (as needed)
  • as needed butter (as needed)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Using a food processor, crush measured wafers until they have a medium crumb consistency. In a medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs, sugars, salt, and melted butter. Stir with a fork. Empty into a greased, 9 in. springform pan. Spread crust mixture evenly, along the bottom and up sides of the pan. Bake at 375F for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Let crust cool completely. 
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat softened cream cheese on med-high until smooth. Switch to the whisk attachment. Whisk on med-high until cream cheese is light and fluffy. 
  4. Reduce speed to the lowest setting and pour in the sweetened condensed milk. Gradually increase speed to med-high until the mixture is emulsified. 
  5. Reduce speed to stir setting and add first lemon juice and extract/simple syrup then increase speed to med-high, until mixture is blended. 
  6. Slice 2 medium bananas and place them in a bowl with second lemon juice. Pour enough juice to fully coat each banana slice. Place each slice around the inside of the springform pan, along the top edge of the cooled crust. 
  7. Pour and level cream cheese mixture into prepared crust. Cover and refrigerate, until filling is set up (2-3 hours). 
  8. Heat a medium, non-stick saucepan over med-high heat. Cut 2 large bananas in thick slices. Generously coat in sugar. Add about a tbsp of butter to the hot saucepan. Place each banana slice in the pan and let brown and caramelize on both sides (about 4 minutes on the initial side and about 2 minutes on the second side). Careful not to burn the bananas! Adjust heat setting and time, as needed. Place caramelized bananas on a sheet of wax paper or a plate coated with cooking spray. DO NOT stack banana slices when cooling. 
  9. After pie has set up, garnish with caramelized banana slices and any remaining caramelized reduction sauce (if any). If there is no reduction sauce (or, it burnt), feel free to garnish it with a caramel sauce or a rich simple syrup flavoring of your choice. Serve immediately.
  10. Cover and store the remaining pie in the refrigerator.