Banana Cocoa-Cream Pie

Channel flipping the other day, the unmistakable twinkle of opening credits of In Julia’s Kitchen caught my attention. I didn’t think the show was running anywhere these days – and no, this wasn’t the middle of the night. Curiosity insisted that I pause.

The taping must have been from the early 90s, judging by the business-in-front-party-in-the-back of Julia’s guest chef. Together they (mostly he) were making their way through some ridiculously complicated recipe. You know, the kind that never make it past your TV.

The promised Banana Chocolate Beignets looked like a LOT of work. With every component, every “reduce this for a while” and “rest that for 6 plus hours”, I was becoming more engrossed (and perplexed)… Where is this going? How many days would elapse at that point in non-TV time? And who was the poor chum slated to wash all those pots?!

But, as they began caramelizing bananas (step 6? 14? I lost count), my wheels started turning. My pie-dey senses told me that caramelized bananas and chocolate cream would make a nice iteration on the good’ol banana cream pie.

I got a chocolate shortcrust going and caramelized those bananas. And while making the cream* – half vanilla, half chocolate – a touch of chocolate liquor spilled into it. It might have been more of a splash. A short pour, at most!

A few hours of cooling and setting, and voila.

And there you have it – Julia Child still inspiring home cooks everywhere. And if you’re curious, check out the episode here. Bon Appétit!

* Note to self: Next time will cook that cream a little longer. It was just a tad unstable, though every bit as tasty as you’d expect anything made with dark chocolate and more-than-dash of liquor to be.