Mad Men Banana Pudding

When I began my cooking trek a couple years ago I came across a very highly rated banana pudding recipe on allrecipes.com. Despite its thousands of reviews, I thought banana pudding sounded like hospital food on a day they ran out of jell-o. I ignored this unappealing dessert until my friend Kibby purchased it at Magnolia Bakery on one of our many sugar crazed nights in NYC. In true Rachel fashion, I snuck my spoon into her dessert. Banana pudding is fantastic! It has the texture of really soft cheesecake with little pieces of cookie in it. In order to procrastinate doing work the other day I thought I would see if the recipe is available on the internet. I have concluded that everything can be found on the internet. Below is the Magnolia Bakery banana pudding recipe.

You will be able to find all the needed ingredients conveniently at the corner bodega. Please make this recipe for your next Mad Men TV night. 5 girls crowded around one community bowl of dessert watching actors constricted in corsets and pointy bras sounds like heaven to me.

MAGNOLIA BAKERY BANANA PUDDING RECIPE
from: More From Magnolia
by Allysa Torey, Photographs from http://newyork.seriouseats.com/images/20081008-banana-pudding.jpg

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups ice cold water
• 1 (3.4-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix (preferably Jell-O brand)
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 (12-ounce) box Nabisco Nilla Wafers (no substitutions!)
• 4 cups sliced ripe bananas

1. In a small bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and water until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the pudding mix and beat well, about 2 minutes more. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight, before continuing. It is very important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set.
2. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream until well blended and no streaks of pudding remain.
3. To assemble the dessert, select a large, wide bowl (preferably glass) with a 4-5-quart capacity. Arrange one-third of the wafers to cover the bottom of the bowl, overlapping if necessary, then one-third of the bananas and one-third of the pudding. Repeat the layering twice more, garnishing with additional wafers or wafer crumbs on the top layer of the pudding. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours - or up to 8 hours, but no longer! - before serving.

P.S. - Sorry that most of my posts are from Magnolia Bakery. First, I am titillated (yes I did just use that word casually) that I can make something people pay for in a bakery. Second, it is a Magnolia Bakery stage due to my new cupcake interest. Give me a month and I will be on something else.