The Best Banana Pudding Recipe You'll Ever Find - Southern Love (2024)

FAQs

What state has the best banana pudding? ›

For those of you who have never had it, banana pudding is very definitely indigenous to Texas and the South. Down here, this is a special treat, one drenched in family history, and revered as an heirloom recipe handed down from our parents' and grandparents' era.

It's no secret that Southerners love banana pudding, but bananas hail from the tropics, and the first mention of the layered dessert came not from the South but from the New York Times in 1878, according to food historian Robert Moss for Serious Eats.

You want your bananas ripe, but not browning too much (like you'd look for in banana bread). Choose bananas that are slightly ripe; yellow with little brown specks. Lemon juice. The best way to avoid brown bananas is to toss them in a a little bit of lemon juice before laying them on top of the Nilla wafers.

However, if you sprinkle them with a little lemon juice, it lowers the pH levels and will keep browning at bay. Following the lemon trick, put them in the fridge, either wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight food storage container or bag. Stored this way, sliced bananas can stay fresh for three to four days.

You can make the whipped pudding thicker or thinner depending on how much heavy whipping cream you add. If you are looking for a thicker consistency (to eat with a spoon, or use as a cake filling), add a little less heavy cream. If you want to use it as a donut filling, use a little more, so that it's easily pipeable.

Thickener: Egg yolks and cornstarch thicken up the pudding. It will thicken as it cooks on the stovetop, and it will continue to thicken as it cools in the fridge.

I used to make my banana pudding with homemade whipped cream because I do prefer to use from-scratch whole food ingredients. However, I found that when you use the cool whip it helps to stabilize the rest of the ingredients and results in a thicker pudding.

Cover the banana pudding tightly with storage wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to three days. Chill until serving.

It's best not to leave it at room temperature for more than two hours. Refrigerating it in a closed plastic container will keep it in good shape for at least 3-4 days. Freezing this yummy dessert for too long is another bad idea. Once you defrost your banana pudding, the taste and appearance won't be the same.

What ingredients are in Patti LaBelle's banana pudding? ›

Ingredients for Patti LaBelle's Banana Pudding

To recreate Patti LaBelle's iconic banana pudding, you'll need sweetened condensed milk, cold water, instant vanilla pudding mix, heavy cream, ripe bananas and vanilla wafers.

Yet the dessert's link to the American South is less clear, particularly given that banana pudding's earliest recipes came from Massachusetts (where Good Housekeeping was based) and central Illinois.

Pudding is usually runny because it has been stored in the refrigerator for too long or in an open space. Another cause could be due to improper cooking methods.

Coat the banana slices in a wee bit of lemon juice and that'll stop the browning. Then, once they are in the pudding, the lemon juice and lack of oxygen will keep them looking fresh.

Lemon Juice: Toss the sliced bananas in a mixture of lemon juice and water. The citric acid in the lemon juice will help to slow down the oxidation process and keep the bananas from turning brown.

Wrap Plastic Around The Crown

Ethylene gas is released from the stems of bananas, which is where the bunch is held together. Wrap some plastic wrap around the crown to slow the ripening process.

As with other fruits, putting acid on your banana slices can slow the oxidation process, explains Rushing. Spritz a light layer of lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice, or vinegar atop the fruit.