Warm banana custard
Ripe banana warmed through a bowl of proper custard
Doubles easily in a wider pan. Use two bananas and 600 g of custard, and give it a minute or two longer to warm through evenly.
Warm custard changes what a banana can do. Cold and sliced on a plate it is a small thing, but stirred into custard that is properly hot, it turns soft at the edges and faintly caramel, and the bowl tastes richer than the sum of its two ingredients. This is the pudding for an evening when cooking anything more than opening a carton feels like too much: heat, slice, stir, and it is done in the time the custard takes to steam. Buy a good one if you are not making your own, full-fat rather than a light version, since a light custard turns thin and watery once it has been near the heat. Keep a couple of banana slices back to lay on top, so the first spoonful still has a freshly cut bite against the warm custard underneath.
Ingredients
Contains: Milk
- 300 gcustard, shop-bought, or a batch of homemade pouring custard
- 1ripe banana, peeled and sliced into rounds about 1 cm thick
Method
Warm the custard gently in a small pan over a low heat, stirring often, until it is hot but not boiling, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Straight from the fridge, a carton of custard takes about the same time as homemade.
Stir most of the banana slices into the hot custard, keeping a few back for the top, and let them warm through for a minute, so they soften at the edges without collapsing.
Pour into a bowl, lay the reserved slices over the top and eat while it is warm.
Watch-points
- Use a banana that is properly ripe, with plenty of brown spots on the skin. Green-tinged banana is starchier and firmer, and this dish wants it soft.
- If you are making your own custard, cook it over a low heat and keep stirring, so it does not scramble.
Stoma note: Ripe banana thickens output, so this is a useful pudding to reach for on a day when things have been loose.
Make it more nourishing
- Stir a tablespoon of skimmed milk powder into the custard while it heats. You will not taste it, and it adds protein.
- Use a well-flavoured full-fat custard rather than a light one, or stir in a spoon of double cream at the end.
- Add a second banana if appetite allows. It thickens the custard further and adds calories without adding volume.
Swaps
- Instead of sliced banana, use banana mashed smooth with a fork and beaten through the custard
- it disappears entirely, which helps on a day when chewing or swallowing is hard
- Instead of banana, use 200 g of tinned peach slices, drained and warmed through in the same way
- the same warm bowl when there is no ripe banana in the house