Almond crisps AND Banana cream pie

Almond crisps

Ideal served with hot coffee, these tasty little crisps complement a Holiday buffet as well as serve as all time favourite treats!

INGREDIENTS:

5 large egg whites

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup blanched almonds, finely ground or chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon peel

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat the egg whites with the sugar and salt for 2 or 3 minutes until the sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are thick and white.

2. Blend in the melted butter and then gently fold in the flour, almonds, lemon juice and peel.

3. Using two teaspoons, drop blobs of dough, well apart, onto a lightly greased non-stick cookie sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes. With a spatula, lift them off the cookie sheet to a cooling rack soon after they come out of the oven. They are somewhat reluctant to part company with the sheet once they have thoroughly cooled.

PREP/COOK

INFORMATION:

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 36

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Banana cream pie

CRUST

• 5 1/3 tbsp melted butter
• 1 cup cracker crumbs

FILLING

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups whole milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 large ripe bananas
• Confectioner's sugar
• Whipped cream
• Dried banana chips (optional)

Method:

I Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. To make the pie crust, blend the melted butter and the cracker crumbs in a bowl until they stick together.

• Press the dough onto the bottom and sides of a 10-inch pie plate.

• Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly toasted.

II Making the filling

• Blend the flour, sugar, and salt in a heavy saucepan.

• Slowly whisk in the milk and cook over medium heat, stirring continually, until the filling is smooth and thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon, about seven to eight minutes.

• Beat the egg yolks in a separate bowl and stir in 1/2 cup of the warm mixture. Then pour it back into the saucepan.

• Cook for five more minutes, stirring constantly.

• Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and butter.

III Baking

• Let the covered mixture cool for five minutes, then re-stir and pour half of it into the baked pie-crust.

• Swirl the pie plate so the sides of the crusts are coated with the cream.

• Slice the bananas evenly over the cream and dust them with confectioner's sugar.

• Pour the remaining pudding over the bananas, then refrigerate until ready to serve.

• Spread whipped cream over the pie and garnish with banana chips. Makes eight servings.