Banana Vanilla Pudding Cups

Ingredients

• Vanilla milk pudding

  650 g whole milk

  pasteurized, approximately 3.25% fat; cold

• 60 g granulated sugar

  all in pudding

• 35 g cornstarch

  white cornstarch, not yellow cornmeal

• 1 g fine table salt

  all in pudding

• 15 g unsalted butter

  small pieces, all stirred in off the heat

• 4 g vanilla extract

  all stirred in off the heat

• Layers and measured topping

  300 g bananas

  peeled edible weight; ripe but firm, slice just before assembly

• 120 g vanilla wafer cookies

  plain unfilled round wafers, crushed; 108 g for layers and 12 g reserved for topping

Directions

1. Whisk the cold pudding mixture

   Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt, then gradually add the cold milk. Use all 60 g sugar, 35 g cornstarch and 1 g salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in a little of the 650 g cold milk to make a smooth slurry, then gradually whisk in the rest. Scrape the corners; no dry starch should remain before heating.

2. Cook until thick and bubbling

   Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thick and gently bubbling. Sweep the pan bottom and corners with a whisk or heatproof spatula. This may take about 8–12 minutes depending on the pan and hob. Once gentle bubbles break through the thick mixture, reduce the heat and stir for 1 minute; do not let the milk scorch or boil violently. The pudding should coat the spoon thickly. Remove from the heat.

3. Finish and cool the pudding

   Stir in all butter and vanilla, then cool promptly over external ice water. Off the heat, mix in 15 g butter and 4 g vanilla until smooth. Scrape into a clean shallow metal bowl. Stand that bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water, keeping water below its rim and out of the pudding. Stir with a clean spatula for about 15–20 minutes until no longer warm. Do not leave a deep saucepan cooling on the counter for hours; refrigerate promptly if assembly is delayed.

4. Prepare banana and cookie portions

   Slice the bananas and crush the cookies, reserving the measured topping. Peel and weigh 300 g firm-ripe banana, then cut into thin rounds just before assembly. Crush all 120 g plain vanilla wafers into small coarse crumbs. Put 12 g crumbs in a separate dry covered container for the final topping; use the remaining 108 g in the layers. Prepare six clean 250 ml glasses.

5. Layer six cups and chill

   Layer the banana, crumbs and cooled pudding into six glasses; cover and chill for at least 4 hours. For each cup, use 50 g banana, 18 g layer crumbs and one sixth of the cooked pudding. Make two repeated layers in this order: 9 g crumbs, 25 g banana, then half that cup’s pudding. End with pudding covering the fruit. Scrape the bowl to share out all the pudding, leaving room below the rims. Cover each cup and refrigerate at 4°C or below until thoroughly chilled. Keep the reserved 12 g crumbs dry and separate.

6. Top and serve chilled

   Add 2 g reserved crumbs to each cup and serve cold. Use all 12 g reserved crumbs across six cups. Do not add extra banana slices, whole wafers, whipped cream, chocolate, caramel or mint as garnish. Keep covered leftovers at 4°C or below and use within 24 hours of assembly as a cautious untested home recommendation; the banana can darken and cookies soften. Limit total unrefrigerated time to 2 hours, or 1 hour above 32°C.