{{Infobox food

| name = Banana cream pie

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| image = Frank Fat's banana cream pie.jpg

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| serving_size = 100 g

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'''Banana cream pie''' is a variation of a [[cream pie]] which includes sliced bananas.

== History and background ==

Bananas "took the American market by storm in the 1880s" according to food historian [[Lynne Olver|Lynn Olver]] as quoted by the ''New York Times''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Steinhauer |first=Jennifer |author-link=Jennifer Steinhauer |date=14 January 2007 |title=L.A.’s Top Banana . . . |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/magazine/14food.t.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=13 April 2024 |archive-date=11 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811135013/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/magazine/14food.t.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first use of 'cream pie' dates to the 1810s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cream pie |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/cream-pie_n?tl=true |website=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |access-date=2024-04-13 |archive-date=2024-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240415023623/https://www.oed.com/dictionary/cream-pie_n?tl=true |url-status=live }}</ref>

The dish dates to the end of the 19th century. A recipe for a banana pie, in which sliced bananas were placed into a baked pie crust and baked to soften the bananas, then topped with whipped cream, appeared in the 1901 ''Woman's Exchange Cook Book'' by Minnie Palmer.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Razon |first=Kristina |date=6 June 2022 |title=Banana Cream Pie |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/banana-cream-pie-5323950 |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=[[Serious Eats]] |language=en |archive-date=2024-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115015722/https://www.seriouseats.com/banana-cream-pie-5323950 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-03-01 |title=The Banana Cream Pie Recipe First Appeared In The 1901 Women’s Exchange Cook Book |url=https://southfloridareporter.com/the-banana-cream-pie-recipe-first-appeared-in-the-1901-womens-exchange-cook-book/ |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=[[South Florida Reporter]] |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205103332/https://southfloridareporter.com/the-banana-cream-pie-recipe-first-appeared-in-the-1901-womens-exchange-cook-book/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Beck |first=Katherine |date=2022-09-01 |title=The 19th Century Origins Of Banana Cream Pie |url=https://www.tastingtable.com/989933/the-19th-century-origins-of-banana-cream-pie/ |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=[[Tasting Table]] |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003112133/https://www.tastingtable.com/989933/the-19th-century-origins-of-banana-cream-pie/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A 1906 recipe in ''The Blue Ribbon Cook Book'' calls for the addition of custard on top of the bananas with no further baking.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

Classic recipes typically call for fresh bananas and custard in a prebaked pie crust which is then topped with whipped cream.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hamel |first=P. J. |title=Banana Cream Pie {{!}} King Arthur Baking |url=https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2015/05/10/banana-cream-pie |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=[[King Arthur Baking]] |language=en |archive-date=2023-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201061950/https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2015/05/10/banana-cream-pie |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Ingredients and assembly ==

[[File:Mission Pie banana cream.jpg|thumb|Close-up view of a slice of banana cream pie]]

Typically ingredients include a [[Shortcrust pastry|pastry crust]] which has been [[Blind-baking|blind-baked]] or a [[Graham cracker crust|graham cracker]] crust, which is then filled with bananas and custard or pastry cream (a cooked mixture of milk, sugar, vanilla, eggs, butter) and topped with [[Crème fraîche|crème fraiche]] or [[whipped cream]].<ref name=":3" />

== Popularity ==

The dish is known throughout the US but is most common in [[Cuisine of the Midwestern United States|Midwestern cuisine]] and [[Cuisine of the Southern United States|Southern cuisine]].<ref name=":3" /> As of 2007 it was also popular in Los Angeles, according to the ''New York Times''.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /> According to the South Florida Reporter it was a favorite of US soldiers in 1951.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

== Variations ==

* [[Banoffee pie]], a British version which adds toffee<ref name=":2" />

* Black bottom banana pie, in which a layer of chocolate -- the [[Black bottom pie|black bottom]] -- is placed on the crust before adding the bananas<ref name=":2" />

== Similar dishes ==

* [[Banana pudding]], a dish in Southern cuisine in which bananas are layered over [[vanilla wafers]], then topped with custard and often whipped cream.

== References ==

{{Commons category|Banana cream pies}}

{{Reflist}}

{{American pies}}

{{Bananas and plantains}}

[[Category:Banana dishes]]

[[Category:Cuisine of the Midwestern United States]]