Mom’s Banana-Coconut Delight Pie

Name: Mom’s Banana-Coconut Delight Pie
Yield: Makes one 9-inch deep-dish pie, 6 to 8 slices (level: challenging)
Ingredients: 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour; 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans; 1/2 pound (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature; 1 cup sugar; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour; 2 2/3 cups whole milk; 1 1/2 cups water; 6 large egg yolks, beaten; 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract; 1 1/4 cups heavy cream; 4 ounces cream cheese, softened; 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar; 1 large banana, thinly sliced; 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans; 1 cup Whipped Cream (page 193); 1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut; 2 cups Whipped Cream

January 24, 2012

One of my fondest memories is of making a dessert with my mom that the two of us referred to simply as “our delight.” Every time I saw the pieces of this creamy banana-coconut concoction being put together in the kitchen, I would begin counting down the hours until dessert. In the years that followed my mom’s passing, I made this pie only a handful of times because I could never match her recipe. Then one morning I woke up and realized I could put a twist on “our delight” by re-creating the banana-coconut cream and inserting the fi lling into a pecan-infused piecrust, created specifically for this pie. “Our delight” now became pure delight. Mom’s Banana-Coconut Delight Pie is best when refrigerated overnight and served cold the next day. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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