Lady Finger Banana Pudding
Who doesn’t love a good bread pudding for dessert? It’s sweet, creamy, filling and ultimately satisfying. For this recipe I used a few packages of lady finger cookies that I had left over from making tiramisu, I wanted to use them up before they got stale, and lost in the avalanche of my pantry. I decided what better way to use the beautiful Italian cookie than in a bread pudding recipe. It comes out light and refreshing, not as heavy as a bread pudding, which makes it a perfect light dessert for after dinner when you are craving something a little sweet to go along with your nice hot cup of coffee or tea. What the heck even with a nice sweet glass of wine, maybe not the beer though, I’ll have to stop there:)
You can whip this up as a quick and easy dessert to serve at Easter after the big feast. Get this fantastic dessert ready the night before, wrap it up well and place it in the fridge to serve to your family and friends, it will be the piece to making your holiday gathering complete.
- 1 package lady finger cookies
- ¾ tsp. cinnamon
- 1-2 bananas sliced
- ¼ cup flour
- ½ cup organic sugar
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- 2 egg yolks reserve the egg whites for the merengue
- 2 cups skim milk or milk substitutes such as rice or almond milk
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla
- 2 tbsp. earth balance buttery spread or regular unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 egg whites, 2 of which were reserved from the pudding
- ½ tsp. cream of tartar
- 6 tbsp organic sugar
- ½ tsp. pure vanilla
- Warm up the 2 cups of milk in the microwave just till it is warmed, not hot 1-1/2 minutes.
- In a heavy sauce pot combine sugar, flour and sea salt, whisk to blend.
- Pour in milk at a steady stream whisking dry ingredients well so there are no lumps, place pot on stove top, turn on to medium heat, whisk frequently till milk begins to thicken, about 6-7 minutes, be patient.
- Whisk egg yolk in a separate bowl, place 3-4 tbsp. of hot milk mixture in the bowl with the yolks, whisk well, then pour into the hot milk mixture, whisk constantly for another 5-6 minutes till mixture thickens.
- Once well thicken remove from heat and add 2 tbsp. butter and vanilla right away, whisk till it is all well blended, set aside for the pudding to cool, and prepare your baking dish.
- Pre-heat oven to 375F, lightly grease a baking dish with a low-fat non stick baking spray.
- To make the meringue place egg white, sugar, cream of tartar and vanilla into a mixing bowl, with either an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the mixture on medium to high-speed till white peaks form about 4-5 minutes. Set aside for a few minutes to arrange the dish.
- Line the entire bottom of the dish with the lady finger cookies.
- Pour the pudding over top of the cookies so the cookies are covered and spread it out evenly.
- Place sliced bananas over entire dish, sprinkle ground cinnamon over top.
- now gently spread merengue over entire dish. You can get fancy and pip it on or make simple waves using a spoon or spatula, which ever you like.
- Place in oven on middle rack and bake for 12-15 minutes till the meringue starts to brown.
- Remove it from the oven, allow for it to cool for 10-15 minutes. You can serve this warm out of the oven or allow for it to cool completely, then wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, place it in the fridge and serve it for dinner or the next day.
