VANILLA CREAM PIE FILLING Rita DeBry

This recipe only makes one pie so I always double it.

Believe me, “If you make it, they will eat it!” and this makes a delicious banana cream pie!

3 egg yolks

2/3 cup sugar

4 Tbsp cornstarch

½ tsp. salt

3 cups milk, whole or 2%

1 Tbsp real butter

1 tsp. real vanilla

whipping cream, optional

Put the egg yolks in a blender.

Mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a glass or plastic bowl and stir well.

Add milk and stir well with a wooden spoon.

Place in a microwave and cook on high for 5 minutes. Take out and stir. Cook for another 5 min. but stir every 1 minute so it does not burn. Continue cooking at 1 minute. intervals until it thickens. Add 1 cup of the hot milk mixture to the blender containing the egg yolks (have it running on low). Blend well then pour back into the glass bowl with the remaining hot milk mixture. Start cooking in microwave again (on high). Cook 1 minute. then stir. Cook 1 minute. then stir. Repeat this until the filling thickens up. This will take about 5 to 10 min., depending on your microwave. (The cooking times in this recipe are for a doubled recipe. Cooking times for a single pie would be less.)

Remove from microwave and add butter and vanilla. Cover the top of the filling with plastic wrap (so it won’t form a film) and chill. Pour into a pre-baked pie crust. This recipe is excellent for banana cream pies (layer bananas and filling) or coconut cream pies. Top with real whipping cream. Make something yummy with the egg whites!

Note: I love this recipe because no matter how much I stirred the old “on the stovetop method” I always burned the cream filling. Now I can serve a banana cream pie without brown “burn flecks” in it! So ENJOY!