This No Bake Banana Dream Dessert combines layers of lady fingers, bananas, vanilla pudding, whipped cream and is topped with toasted meringue.
I call this No Bake Banana Dream Dessert because one spoonful is like a dream. It’s light, creamy and highly addicting, which is a good thing because it has a refrigerator life span of about two days. Similar to the classic banana pudding with Nilla wafers, this dessert uses Italian lady fingers, which really hold up to the creamy layers of deliciousness. If serving at a gathering, you want to plan to make this dessert at least two hours ahead of time to allow all the flavors to soak into the lady fingers.
Ingredients
- Lady Fingers – Savoiardi Italian Lady Fingers are my favorite – Look for the Amazon link below.
- Bananas – Look for firm bananas, don’t use old bananas.
- Eggs – Farm fresh eggs give the best color when making the pudding.
- Milk – Whole milk.
- Vanilla – Pure vanilla extract.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar.
- Cornstarch – For thickening the pudding.
- Butter – I use salted butter, even though we are adding salt to the pudding.
- Salt – Just plain old table salt.
- Cream of Tartar – This gives the meringue it’s fluffiness.
No Bake Banana Dream Dessert
Equipment
- Butane torch
Ingredients
- 48 lady finger cookies About 2 packages Savoiardi Italian
- 3-4 bananas cut in 1/2 inch round slices
Pudding Layer
- 3 cups whole milk
- 8 large egg yolks whites reserved for meringue
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
Whipped Cream Layer
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Meringue Layer
- 4 egg whites Half of reserved egg whites
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
Pudding Layer
- Heat milk in a small pot over medium heat until warmed.
- Whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a bowl.
- Slowly mix about a cup of the warm milk into the eggs mixture to temper. Then, pour egg mixture into remaining milk and stir constantly while cooking over medium heat until thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Do not let the mixture boil.
- Once thickened, remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.
Whipped Cream
- Add cream, sugar and vanilla to a refrigerated 'cold' bowl.
- Using a mixer, beat on high speed for about a minute until thick and creamy. Do not over beat.
Meringue Layer
- Place egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar in a bowl. Using a mixer, beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
Assembly
- Place a single layer of lady fingers over the bottom of a square dish.
- Spread half of the pudding evenly over the lady fingers.
- Add a single layer of sliced bananas over the pudding layer.
- Spread all of the whipped cream over bananas.
- Add a single layer of lady fingers over the whipped cream.
- Spread the remaining pudding over the lady fingers.
- Top with meringue, using the spatula to form peaks.
- If desired, use the butane torch to brown the top of the meringue. Store in the refrigerator up to two days.
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