What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about Elvis Presley? For many people, it is the gyrating hips and unique music from his day and he was at the forefront. For other people, however, they think about is rather unique love of certain types of foods, such as a peanut butter, bacon and banana sandwich.
If you are somebody that equates Elvis with food or if you just happen to agree with some of his choices, then this dessert is going to be the perfect option. It combines all of those Elvis favorites into one delicious pie and once you taste it, you may never turn back again.
Ingredients:
For the crust:
4 strips bacon, cooked crisp
10-15 peanut butter cookies (to make 1 1/2 cup crumbs total)
3-5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (or bacon fat, or a combination of both)
For the filling:
5 large egg yolks
3 cups whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 medium-ripe bananas
For topping:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup peanuts (salted and/or honey-roasted), chopped
Directions:
To make the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
On a foil-lined baking sheet, cook the bacon until it is super crispy, but not burnt. Remove it from the oven (keep the oven on), and drain the bacon on paper towels.
When the bacon is cool enough to handle, process it in a food processor with the cookies until you’ve got fine crumbs. Mix the crumbs with the fat until the crumbs are the consistency of wet sand.
Press mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie plate and chill the crust until firm. Bake the crust for about 10 minutes. Allow it to cool completely.
To make the filling, prepare an ice bath. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks lightly. In a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the milk, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer but do not let it boil, whisking constantly for 4 minutes.
Temper the egg yolks by whisking them constantly as you ladle in a thin stream of the hot milk mixture. Add another ladleful of milk, whisking constantly, then pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan of hot milk as you whisk. Cook it over medium-high heat, whisking steadily, until the custard is thick and you see small bubbles breaking the surface, about 3 minutes. Remove it from the heat, whisk in the vanilla, and set the pan in the ice bath. Stir it occasionally with a spatula until fully cooled.
To assemble the pie, slice the bananas lengthwise or in circles, whichever you prefer, and arrange a layer of them in the bottom of your pie crust. Cover them with a layer of pudding, then repeat with the remaining banana slices and pudding.
To make the topping, in a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or by hand with a whisk, whip the cream, powdered sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Pile the whipped cream onto the pie filling and top it with the chopped nuts.