Dulce de Leche Banana Cream Pie

I have heard for some time now that you can take a can of sweetened condensed milk, boil it in water and turn it into dulce de leche.  This concept sounded way too good to be true so of course I had to try it out and see for myself.  

While at the gym earlier this week, I dreamt up this recipe (somewhat comical when you think about it) for an ultimate banana cream pie.  I had honestly been wanting to make my own version of a banana cream pie for some time now and realized that the Dulce de Leche might be the perfect pairing for this recipe.  Before I knew it I had laid out the blue prints for this pie and got to work.  The recipe ended up being a major success (my test group-- myself included) all gave the pie rave reviews and the green light to share with you all today.  This pie is more time intensive than labor intensive.  All cooking techniques used are relatively simple and at its core, this pie is more of an assembly recipe than anything else.  If you have some free time over the weekend, I highly recommend trying this recipe. 

Ingredients (for the Dulce de Leche)

• 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Instructions

**This step takes a little over 2hrs so it needs to be the first step in this recipe.  All other components of the pie can be made while this can is cooking. 

1. See this post from Serious Eats for complete step-by-step instructions.

Ingredients (for the Crust)

• 1 Package of Sandies Cookies (Pecan or Plain)
• 1/2 Stick Salted Butter, plus 1 Tbs
• 1 tbs Granulated Sugar
• Pinch of Salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and place oven rack on bottom third tier
2. In a food processor, pulse 1 package of Sandies Cookies until finely ground
3. Pour contents into bowl, add 1/2 stick of melted butter, sugar and salt
4. Combine with a fork
5. Melt 1 Tbs of butter and use it to coat the bottom and sides of the pie dish
6. Dump crust mixture into pie dish and press down so that it is evenly packed throughout the bottom and sides of the dish
7. Bake crust for approximately 20 minutes
8. When done baking, set aside to cool

Ingredients (for the Banana Rum Filling)

• 5 Bananas, sliced into 1/4in thick medallions
• 5 Tbs Brown Sugar
• 5 Tbs Salted Butter
• 3 Tbs Rum

Instructions

1. In a large skillet on medium high heat, melt the butter
2. When the butter is melted, add the sliced bananas and brown sugar
3. Stir until combined and cook until the sugar completely dissolves to become a caramelized sauce.
4. Add the rum and continue to cook until the liquid evaporates
5. Once the liquid evaporates, remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Ingredients (for the Toppings)

• 2 c Heavy Whipping Cream
• 4 Tbs Confectioners Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/3 c Flaked Coconut (Toasted)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl combine heavy whipping cream, sugar and vanilla extract
2. With an electric mixer beat contents until stiff peaks are achieved

Pie Assembly

1. Pour banana rum filling on top of cooked pie crust
2. When the cooked condensed milk can has cooled, open and spread on top of the banana filling mixture.
3. Spread the whipped cream evenly on top of the cooled condensed milk "Dulce de Leche"
4. If you have any remaining unbaked pie crust, sprinkle on top of whipped cream and finish with a generous sprinkling of the toasted flaked coconut
5. Serve and enjoy!