Mother's Day Dessert: Banana Pudding

Quite a while ago I read the book Friendship Cake by Lynne Hinton.  This novel tells the story of five women who come together to create a community cookbook.  It also tells the stories of their individual lives, and one interesting part, for me, is that each chapter begins with a recipe.  I've been trying to decide on a nice recipe for a Mother's Day dessert, and I took this book down from the shelves and found, right there on page 64, the perfect one: banana pudding.

Since I didn't grow up in a house with a lot of home-made desserts, I don't personally recall having had banana pudding, but I associate it with mothers for some reason.  I think of "mom" slowly stirring the vanilla custard, carefully slicing the bananas, and lovingly layering them with vanilla wafers.  Perhaps this association comes from always seeing the recipe on the back of the Vanilla Wafer box that was always in our cupboard!  Here's "Charlotte's Banana Pudding" from this lovely little novel.

Charlotte's Banana Pudding

1 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups scalded milk
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 stick margarine (I'd use butter)
3 to 4 ripe bananas
Vanilla wafers

Whipped cream for topping (my addition)

Combine flour and sugar.  Add to scalded milk and cook over low heat.  Add some hot mixture to egg, then add to mixture.  Cook over low heat until thick.  Stir constantly so mixture does not lump.  Stir in vanilla and margarine (butter).  Layer with bananas, sliced, and wafers.  Crumble vanilla wafers for topping.

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