There is one dessert in the South that reigns as the quintessential Southern dessert, even surpassing the venerable Red Velvet Cake –it is the Banana Pudding, or as it is pronounced here in the South, Nanner Puddin’. There was a time when this wasn’t the iconic Southern dessert, but then there was also a time when biscuits were limited to only the rich folk’s kitchens. However, as bananas became more available, like wheat flour, recipes trickled down from society kitchens to our grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s kitchens creating things that define us in terms of our food.

Banana pudding has been in the South for over a hundred years, but it wasn’t as popular as when Nabisco printed that iconic recipe on its box of Nilla Wafers. The Southern Living Dessert Cookbook from 1967 listed only one recipe for banana pudding, while listing twelve recipes for rice pudding. That’s changed a whole lot since then:

home made banana pudding. Photo courtesy of Stu Spivack

Banana Pudding 11 Ways by Southern Living magazine

Banana Pudding (1967)

2 ¼ cups milk

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup sugar

3 or 4 bananas, mashed

1/8 tsp salt

Vanilla wafers

Combine all ingredients except the vanilla wafers and cook in double boiler until thick. In deep casserole, alternate vanilla wafers and bananas until you have 3 layers of each. Pour cooked mixture on top. When cooled, put whipped cream or dessert topping mix on top and serve.

(SOURCE: Southern Living Dessert Cookbook, Southern Living Magazine, 1967; recipe by Nancy Stillwell, High Point, NC)

You can find what most food historians agree is the first recipe for a “banana pudding” in Mrs. Rorer’s New Cook Book by Sarah Tyson Rorer from 1902. The following year, Mary Harris Frazier published The Kentucky Receipt Book, which contained the following recipe:

Banana Pudding (1903)

Take a half dozen bananas, peel and cut in pieces an inch thick, put in baking dish and pour over custard made in the following manner: Custard-one pint of milk, 3 eggs, beat the yolks light, add milk, also two tablespoons of granulated sugar. Have the milk boiling, add the eggs and let it cook until it thickens; when cool pour over the bananas. Make a meringue with the whites and granulated sugar, put on top of custard, set in oven a few minutes to brown. Serve at once.

The following is another recipe I have found for the banana pudding we Southerners would recognize as banana pudding like our grandmothers made. Instead of vanilla wafers, it uses cake, but it does use meringue as a topping as many will remember on top of Granny’s “nanner puddin’”

Banana Pudding (1913)

Slice very thin, crosswise, three medium size bananas, sprinkle thickly with sugar, then add to a batter made by beating up four egg-yolks and two whites, with one cup crumbled rich stale cake, half-cup sugar, cup very rich milk, and the juice of a large lemon. Mix smooth, pour into a deep pudding dish, and bake in a quick oven, then cover with meringue made from the egg-whites left out, beaten up with a pinch of salt, two teaspoons cold water, and six tablespoons of sugar. Return to the oven and let barely color. Serve hot or cold.

(SOURCE: Dishes and Beverages of the Old South by Martha McCulloch-Williams, McBride Nast & Company, New York, NY, 1913}

Momma’s mother, Nanny, had a recipe for banana pudding that most closely represents what I myself consider to be a proper banana pudding; however the base pudding is a recipe that has come down from those before her. It is basically a soft custard and can be adapted to any flavour, not just banana. My mother adds natural banana extract to it and pours it over vanilla wafers to make a banana-less banana pudding – our family doesn’t like real bananas in our banana pudding (weird, huh?) Note: I don’t have a date for Nanny’s recip eand since it is still used, I just date it as ”heirloom”.

Nanny’s Pudding (heirloom)

Put two cups milk on to boil.

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

2 T butter or margarine

1 T flour

Mix sugar, eggs, vanilla, oleo or butter, flour well and pour into hot milk. Stir until thickened. For banana pudding, pour over wafers and bananas.

At the turn of the century the National Biscuit Company (or Nabisco) began to market vanilla wafers. In 1968, the name of the wafers became Nabisco Nilla Wafers. However, the most important part of all of this is that a recipe on the side of the box became the standard by which all banana pudding would be judged forevermore.

Original Nilla Banana Pudding (from the back of the box) (1968)

3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Dash salt
3 eggs, separated
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
45 NILLA Wafers, divided
5 ripe bananas, sliced (about 3 1/2 cups), divided
Additional NILLA Wafers and banana slices, for garnish

1. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt in top of double boiler. Blend in 3 egg yolks and milk. Cook, uncovered, over boiling water, stirring constantly for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

2. Reserve 10 wafers for garnish. Spread small amount of custard on bottom of 1 1/2-quart casserole; cover with a layer of wafers and a layer of sliced bananas. Pour about 1/3 of custard over bananas. Continue to layer wafers, bananas and custard to make a total of 3 layers of each, ending with custard.

3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Spoon on top of pudding, spreading evenly to cover entire surface and sealing well to edges.

4. Bake at 350°F in top half of oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. Cool slightly or refrigerate. Garnish with additional wafers and banana slices just before serving.

Makes 8 servings

Just in case you want to do it all from scratch…

Vanilla Wafers (1886)

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup butter

4 tbsp milk

1 egg

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 pinch salt

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

5 cups flour (or as needed)

Preheat the oven at 350°F (180°C).

Cream the butter, then add the sugar and mix well. Add the egg and beat until well incorporated, then add the milk and vanilla and mix well. Sift 4 cups of flour with the

salt, the cream of tartar and the baking soda, and add these to the butter mixture. Mix well and then add enough extra flour until the dough holds together and is firm and supple, easy to roll.

On a very lightly floured surface roll the dough very thin (1/8 inch–3 mm), and cut with a cookie cutter. Using a thin metal spatula transfer the cookies to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake for about 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden. Transfer the cookies on a rack to cool–they will be soft just out of the oven but will become crisp as they cool. Keep in an airtight container.

NOTE: The original instructions do not specify the exact amount of flour, they just say to add enough flour to roll the dough very thin. Begin with 4 cups of flour and then add as much as needed to make a dough that is easy to roll. Adding too little flour will make the dough too soft and sticky, adding too much will make it dry and brittle–in both cases it will be very difficult to roll. If you realize you added too much flour, add some more milk (1 tbsp at a time), until the dough is again supple and easy to handle.

(SOURCE: The Woman Suffrage Cook Book, edited by Mrs. Hattie A. Burr, c. 1886, recipe by Mrs. B. M. Frazier; via http://www.wythenotes.com/2010/11/19/a-puddin-fit-for-a-king)

Homemade Vanilla Wafers

7 ounces all-purpose flour (almost a cup)

3/4 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder

1 Tablespoon ground golden flax

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

3 1/2 ounces vanilla sugar (regular will work too)

1 large egg

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon whole milk

Position 1 oven rack in the top third of the oven and another in the bottom third. Heat the oven to 350 F.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and vanilla sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl after 1 minute. Add the egg and incorporate on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl. Add the vanilla extract and milk and blend on low speed for 15 seconds. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just to incorporate. Chill the batter in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes before scooping.

Scoop the batter in teaspoon-sized balls and arrange them on 2 parchment paper-lined half sheet pans, approximately 35 cookies per pan. Use the heel of your hand to slightly flatten each ball. Bake, 2 pans at a time, rotating the pans halfway through the baking, until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pans to a cooling rack to cool completely before removing the cookies from the pan.

(SOURCE: http://amomknowsbest.com/2011/05/homemade-vanilla-wafers-easy-

delicious)

The easiest way to make banana pudding (the po’folks version) is the mix up a box of Jello Banana Cream Instant Pudding and throw in some Nilla Wafers; however, if you had a few more minutes and a bit more money, you could try this (I myself would rather do without than do this, but to each his own):

Easy Banana Pudding

3 small boxes instant vanilla pudding mix

5 cups cold milk

12 ozs. whipped topping (Cool Whip)

1 cup sour cream

1 large box vanilla wafers

5 to 6 large bananas

Follow package directions for pudding, using the 5 cups of milk. Fold in half of the whipped topping and all of the sour cream. In large bowl, layer wafers, bananas, pudding mixture. Top with remaining whipped topping. Refrigerate.

(SOURCE: http://southernfood.about.com/od/bananarecipes/r/blbb693.htm)

FYI: The National Banana Pudding Festival is held at the Hickman County Ag Pavilion and Fairgrounds at Grinder's Switch just outside of Centerville, Tennessee. For more info, go to http://bananapuddingfest.org