Banana Pudding Trifle
Twin Cities food blogger greens & chocolate does the impossible in this tempting trifle recipe: She makes banana pudding taste even better than it already does.
Everyone loves banana pudding. Who can resist a creamy dessert full of homemade vanilla pudding, whipped cream, bananas and Nilla wafers? I definitely can’t!
For this recipe, I took banana pudding up a few notches by turning it into a trifle with chunks of pound cake layered between the pudding, bananas and whipped cream.
Many banana pudding recipes call for a couple boxes of pudding mix, but I wholeheartedly think it’s worth the extra 12 minutes to make homemade pudding. I promise you, it isn’t difficult and it absolutely makes this trifle over-the-top delicious! The same goes for the homemade whipped cream. Sure, you could use Cool Whip and, believe me, I love Cool Whip in some desserts. But in this case it is so much better with the homemade whipped cream. I did save time with the pound cake, however. A store-bought pound cake will do just fine in this trifle!
Not only is this Banana Pudding Trifle delicious, it’s also a show-stopper in the looks department. A glass trifle bowl works best so you can see all the layers — and show off just how special this dessert is!
This is the perfect dessert for a backyard barbecue or Sunday supper. We shared this dessert with neighbors and family, and it received rave reviews all around. I have to admit … in the end, we regretted sharing so much of it!
10 servings
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Pudding:
5 cups milk
2 cups granulated sugar
6 egg yolks
6 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
For the Whipped Cream:
4 cups heavy whipping cream
½ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
For the Trifle:
3 bananas
Nilla Wafers
Pound Cake (I used Sara Lee frozen pound cake), cut into bite-sized pieces
Directions
To make the pudding:
- In a large saucepan, add the milk over medium heat.
- In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Add the sugar-egg yolk mixture, cornstarch and vanilla extract to the milk and whisk well to combine.
- Cook until the mixture is bubbling, whisking occasionally so the bottom doesn’t burn.
- Once the mixture is bubbling, cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture thickens. Note: It will thicken up more as it cools.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla, mixing until the butter has melted.
- Let the pudding cool for 30 to 60 minutes.
To make the whipped cream:
- Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt to a large mixing bowl.
- Beat the cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. You will know they are stiff peaks when you remove the mixer blade and the whipped cream forms a peak that stands up straight and does not curl.
To assemble:
- In a medium to large trifle bowl, add 1½ cups of the pudding, spreading it evenly across the bottom of the bowl.
- Layer with slices of one banana.
- Top the banana slices with ½ of the pound cake chunks, followed by 2 cups of whipped cream, Nilla wafers, the remaining pudding, slices of one banana, the remaining pound cake chunks and the remaining whipped cream.
- Sprinkle with crushed Nilla Wafers and additional sliced bananas.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Enjoy!