Strawberry Banana week! Monday: banana plus strawberry

So my roommate Chris has been getting adventurous with pies this summer as well. He asked me a week or so ago if I had come across a Strawberry Banana Pie recipe. It's one of the most common fruit combos out there, and there ought to be a pie, right?! Well, it's proven sort of tough to find a recipe I could get behind that wasn't just one or the other with some extra fruit. Chris eventually found one that, while I have my reservations about, looks like it might work.

We begin, then, with a Strawberry Banana Cream Pie. Basically a Banana Cream Pie plus Strawberries.

I used a graham cracker crust, which I think was a poor choice. I mean, usually when I try to pack a graham cracker crust in a pie plate, it doesn't quite work out. I reduced the recipe as follows, so it would at least fit in the plate, but it soaked up some liquid from the pie innards, and it's just not a graham cracker crust without the crunch! So I think next time I would go with a standard pie crust, baked at 425F for ten minutes with weights, then ten or so more without, to crisp it up.

Then, custard!

2 cups whole milk
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons butter

The recipe I used (at least for the custard) is a little complex. In my experience, you can just throw the stuff together in a pan and cook on medium heat, stirring constantly. Then after it thickens, take it off the heat and add the butter and vanilla. Stir again until completely incorporated.

Then slice some bananas and line the bottom of the crust. I cut my bananas pretty thick, and used about one and a half nanners. Then I put some custard on top, then sliced some strawberries nice and thick and made a layer of those. Then some more custard, and then some whipped cream. If you remember the whipped cream from last summer, that's the good stuff.

Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. I JUST fixed the egg imbalance. Now I've posted two more yolk-heavy recipes! Oh well. I'll figure it out. Don't let it keep you up at night.