Banana Pudding- Hot or Cold?

I’ve only ever had it cold, and am shocked some people eat it hot...

Butterscotch and chocolate are great hot; never had banana, hot or cold. Sounds disgusting.

For me, all pudding should be cold.

When my late mother made banana pudding, I'd always try to scam some while it was still hot/warm. Esp since I only liked the warm custard (made from scratch) mixed with the softening vanilla wafers. Bananas upset me and make me hiccup for hours, especially when cold/refrigerated, so I only wanted the banana flavor but not actual bananas.

Damn, my mother could make a custard like no one else! Banana pudding, homemade ice cream, trifles, sweet potato pone and pie, coconut custard, and OMFG her unparalleled lemon meringue pie.

Lord, I miss her.

Same. Would give anything just to hear her in the kitchen. You only miss them more as time goes on.

R7 Making a good custard from scratch is an art. Your mom must have been an excellent cook. My mom made the best lemon meringue pie from scratch. Our moms had a special skill!

Banana bread -- that's the only way to serve a banana.

I like it either way. But I am more prone to enjoying it hot in the winter and cold in the summer.

If hot, absolutely not warmed up in a microwave, better cold then doing that.

I am jealous of those that had mothers that actually cooked. If my mother made pudding, and it was rare that we even had dessert, it would come from a box—pudding or cake mix. Then she would complain about the extra dishes it created.

I did have banana pudding served warm once, at a church function. It was delicious

Your mother cooked R15. She just wasn't a good scratch cook.

Warm is better. Very comforting especially if you have a delicate stomach or it's cold outside.

R8 and R9, you better know it! 100% with you. When I was creating my R7 post, I was simply flooded with memories of Mama at the kitchen counter putting the custard together (beating eggs BY HAND, adding the flavoring extracts, sugar, and whatever other sorcery she'd conjure up), transferring to the heavy pot she only used for custard, and heating it all just so, constantly making sure it didn't curdle.

So very labor-intensive, always made with such love.

Three years last March, and I still ache every day while standing at the stove or at Mama's Magic Counter (we four kids called it), pulling a meal or dessert together.

I know I'm being selfish, but 90 years was too short for me.😢💔

Sharing the very best recipe for chocolate pudding which I recommend eating hot.

Describes how to mix the well beaten eggs with some of the milk together, and then to cook the sugar, cocoa, and the rest of the milk until you see tiny bubbles. Remove the pot from the heat and slowing stir in the egg mixture while constantly stirring. Put the pot back on the stove, cooking & stirring at a very low temperature until thick.

Not too difficult once you get the hang of it.

I’ve had vanilla and chocolate and butterscotch hot. Banana just seems wrong hot lol

I've never heard of "hot' banana pudding. I've always had it cold. And it's delicious.

R15, R7 here. Did your mom work outside the home, or was she just not into scratch cooking? No doubt she showed her love in other ways, yes?

My mother gave up her career after marrying my father and moving down to the state where we children were born. She saw her role as homemaker as deserving every ounce of love and effort she'd put into her former career. I was the baby of our family, and every Monday after my sibs left for school and Daddy was fed (he worked nights), she would wash all the linens, hang them on the clothesline, make up all the beds, pick up the house, dress me in a cute outfit, and off we would leave on our Monday routine (all by foot) of visiting Daddy's old extended relatives who lived within walking distance, crossing the highway to visit old shut-in church members, then off to the neighborhood Bookmobile--my entire raison d'être from age 2 until I began school. Then we'd get home and Mama started working on dinner. Then we'd take down the dried clothes, fold them and put them away. By that time my sibs were coming home from school, and Daddy had finished his after-work nap. I remember my siblings were so envious of Mama-baby child Mondays.

I knew lots of kids whose mothers worked outside the home, or were housewives who couldn't/didn't cook from scratch. So I was always grateful for my mother and dad who jumped headfirst and always into family life in the way we kids needed.

I want you all to know that now I want some pudding, just when I started a spring diet. Thanks DL. 🤣😁😘

I'm from the South and I ate banana pudding as a child. It's a Southern dessert, isn't it? My grandmother made it topped with vanilla wafers. She also made bread pudding and used a very simple recipe, no sauces, no raisins, no coconut, just some leftover bread and sugar and butter and eggs and a little vanilla. I could eat it hot or cold. I think it made a good snack and was very inexpensive and easy to make.

Bananas Foster - HOT.

Banana Pudding - Cold.

Banana Pudding with 'Nilla Wafers - Dropped into the garbage pail.

Banana-Sized Pud - Body temp., please.

R22, she didn’t work outside the home. Decades later, I realize she was terribly depressed. She would watch TV all day, every day, and nothing could separate her from it. She wouldn’t attend my school functions if there was something on that she wanted to watch (we’re talking 70’s and early 80’s here). She put no thought into cooking whatsoever.

At the time, it really sucked, especially when I went to a friend’s home and made comparisons. My brother and I were not allowed to bring friends home for sleepovers, dinner, even to play. My mother never drank or did drugs, that would have been something I could understand. She just wanted the boob tube 24/7 and lived in her own little world. Somehow my dad tolerated it.

Decades later, I’m more understanding, now that we have better sources for mental health. She had issues and couldn’t cope. I’m glad some of you have such warm, happy memories, though.

That's sad, R26. Not trying to be mean, but choosing a TV show over a school function ... That said, my mom (housewife) never attended *any* of our school functions. Frankly, I wouldn't have wanted her there. I'd have been to self-conscious.

Only trash would eat hot banana pudding.

Banana pudding, like revenge, is a dish best served cold.

Uh, no. Just no. Nope. I said NO! 🚫

I don't really understand the big deal about banana pudding, hot or cold. But I didn't grow up in the south. I also think trifle and tiramisu are kind of blah as well, though. All that soft stuff in one bowl.

Never had it but it sounds good.

Made from scratch, banana pudding is heaven. Unfortunately, most of the time it's made from a Jell-O mix with Vanilla Wafers and Cool Whip and is way too sweet.

Grew up in the South and had banana pudding often. Have had it both hot and cold, although more often had it cold.

Both hot and cold are very good. but if you're eating it right from the stove, it needs to cool off for a while.

All that said, I really prefer it lukewarm -- when you take it out of the refrigerator, let it get to room temperature or near room temp.

By the way the banana pudding I grew up with had lots of bananas in it (not just one banana sliced up, but four or five or six bananas sliced up), plus vanilla wafers. Some people put meringue and Cool Whip on banana pudding but neither is really necessary.

My first encounter with banana pudding was when I was a teenager and a southern family moved to Brooklyn and she made us banana pudding for some occasion. She was lovely.

They moved back down south about a decade ago. But her pudding will forever be in my heart.

[quote] Cool Whip

Using it should be a felony.

Yes, that Cool whip is a sell out!

Aretha Franklin's recipe for "Aretha's Yum Yum Yum Banana Pudding", as seen on Oprah.

[quote] liked the warm custard (made from scratch) mixed with the softening vanilla wafers.

Hang about. It’s a trifle, then?

Honestly I’ve never fucking heard of ‘banana pudding’, let alone had it or seen it. What’s wrong with a banoffee?

the accurate, southern way to make a banana pudding - whether hot or cold - is to add the bananas and vanilla wafers just before serving.

everything else is irrelevant.

Its name is "nanner puddin" and calling it anything else is literal violence!

Banana Pudding without meringue is like a day without sunshine. In my part of the south you'd be run out of town on a rail if you served it unadorned, or God forbid, with something as trashy as Cool Whip.

Meringue on banana pudding? Never heard of it.

Oh, the new generation loves granny's 'nanna puddn'. But momma didn't have the time because she was watching Oprah and Jerry Springer. So, boxed pudding and Chool Whip became the norm. That's about all they know, unless great auntie Jean makes it.

Cold. We're not savages.

Also, if you served me banana pudding made with Jell-O pudding mix instead of a real custard, I would slap you viciously. Again, we're not savages.

Aretha made her banana pudding @ r39 with bananas, wafers and instant pudding.

If a poster gave this "recipe" they would be deservedly pointed toward the nearest grease fire.

[quote] Meringue on banana pudding? Never heard of it.

It's how real southern banana pudding is made.

Meringue sounds good, a dense meringue, though. My mom made meringues, but they were more airy and fluffy.

My mother would sprinkle little individual grains of pearl sugar all over her meringues. They would melt in the oven and the meringue would end up with little golden glass beads all over it.

[quote] Aretha made her banana pudding @ [R39] with bananas, wafers and instant pudding.

Yeah, and that's what makes it funny because she always talked about herself as a great cook and made it sound like the stuff she cooked involved great skill. I'm surprised that she used fresh bananas instead of something out of a can.

Calling it "Aretha's Yum Yum Yum Banana Pudding" didn't hide the fact that her "recipe" was basically what every fat, lazy, Flyoverstan frau did when she made banana pudding.

Some people can turn the instant stuff into a tasty snack

Cool to cold. Hot banana pudding is a reportable hate crime.

Hot banana pudding must be for those who can't wait for it to cool down

That photo looks like something extracted during an episode of Dr. Pimple Popper. Ugh. (vomits in trash can)

[quote]Yeah, and that's what makes it funny because she always talked about herself as a great cook and made it sound like the stuff she cooked involved great skill.

Obviously, you've never made her peanut butter and shrimp.

Make sure you have Splenda on hand.

Pudding is disgusting whether it’s hot or cold. What is the POINT of pudding? Why not just eat ice cream? At least ice cream doesn’t get that skin on it 🤢.

R59 they’re nothing alike. Wtf.

Who compares Ice Cream to pudding?

R57, and that's another example of her bullshit. She boasts about a recipe that she uses fucking Splenda in and then calls it "Aretha's mmm mmm mmm peanut butter shrimp". I think she was jealous of Patti LaBelle's successful cookbooks and was determined to show that she was better than Patti.

I have never heard of this before.

What's the best way to infuse the custard with banana flavour?

Or does that happen as it sets up?

If you create layers using the vanilla wafers won't they turn soggy and mushy after being cooled down and chilled before being served?

Lawdy, ya'll find some southern joint and order it. If it's not meringue, run away though.

I would add the joint should be ran by a fat, happy black woman, but that would be racist.

But true!

Oy!

I've never heard of hot banana pudding -- pudding doesn't set up and become firm until it's cold, so isn't a hot version still liquid? The notion of hot banana soup just isn't appealing.

I used to make my southern in-laws' version of (cold) banana pudding with vanilla wafers and that's wonderful. But then I discovered Paula Deen's extreme version with Pepperidge Farms Chessmen cookies and have never looked back. There's probably someone somewhere in the world who doesn't love that but I've never met such a fool.

[quote] If you create layers using the vanilla wafers won't they turn soggy and mushy after being cooled down and chilled before being served?

Good lord. I condole those of you who have never experienced a good banana pudding.

My moms old southern friend made it using Nilla wafer cookies. Not the long type with vanilla inside, but the cookies.

Any banana pudding not baked in the oven is not worth eating. The non baked crap made with Jello instant pudding mix is good for only one thing. Feeding the pigs.

And yes, a properly made banana pudding sets up perfectly well in the oven.

The Chessman cookies version sounds great. I've recently had a very good (cold) banana pudding topped with Nutter Butter cookie pieces and butterscotch chips.

You would think that a stovetop version would taste better because the oven probably fucks with the banana flavour.

Aretha Franklin always had a chip on her shoulder in interviews, always defensive. She was entertaining, though, and not just her singing. Her put-downs were expert.

I'm not surprised that her "recipe" for banana pudding is so shoddy. Nobody said she was a good cook.

Patti Labelle was more known for her cooking and I'd rather use her recipes.

If you make the custard and then pour over mashed banana, let infuse and then strain, would that be better than baking?

I'm following the procedure for strawberries which are ruined by an oven.

My mother's lemon meringue pie was a fucking work of ART. The filling was just tart enough and it glistened; but the meringue was - I kid you not- a good three inches high, perfectly formed, and browned just so - NEVER burned. She died in 2005, and family members talk about it to this day. She was a natural in the kitchen, a true artist.

Her fried chicken was spectacular too, but that's a story for another day.

Best lemon curd for lemon meringue pie is the Pierre Herme recipe for curd in Desserts By Pierre Herme

[quote]If you make the custard and then pour over mashed banana, let infuse and then strain, would that be better than baking?

R73, you're not going for a banana flavored custard. A good banana pudding is basically a banana cream pie without a pastry crust and a meringue instead of a whipped cream topping. It's kind of like a layered trifle - a layer of vanilla wafers, slices of banana, and vanilla custard topped with a meringue. The baking step is simply to brown the meringue and usually takes no more than 10-15 minutes.

Meringue became traditional as it was a way to use all of the leftover egg whites from making the custard, but I'm not convinced that it's better than whipped creme

R7, R18, R22 here.

[quote]I want you all to know that now I want some pudding, just when I started a spring diet. Thanks DL. 🤣😁😘

Lol, that's how I felt making those posts. It's like watching The Godfather (OG & II), Goodfellas, or Tom Jones: I ALWAYS get so hungry watching them.

If I could, I would give up one year of my life if I could have my mother's pre-Alzheimer's and my Dad's pre-stroke meals: Mama's peach cobbler; smothered butterbeans + sliced tomatoes--both from our garden; chicken & dumplings; lemon meringue pie; 6-layer coconut cake (buying and shredding actual coconuts for it; THE best ever macaroni & cheese casserole; fig preserves; shrimp, corn, tomato, lima bean, okra, and smoked sausage medley; doberge cake; cathead biscuits; and salmon croquettes (so divine, when we visited Sylvia's in NYC, my ex told Miss Sylvia herself that her croquettes were good, but couldn't even TOUCH _____'s Mom's. To her credit, Miss Sylvia laughed and nodded.

And Dad's cornmeal pancakes, strawberry shortcake (and I don't even LIKE strawberry shortcake), gingerbread w/lemon saucr, mustard-crusted fried catfish, smothered chicken + scratch biscuits (so good, my mother asked him to make her some despite being in early labor with their first child!); liver or steak grillades + grits.

Damn, lemme just stop. Love from the kitchen, indeed.

YESSSSSSSS, R51, YESSSSS!

Those lovely little bead drops atop a meringue pie were just unicorn magic to a little child. After cooling, Mama would put the pies in the China cabinet in the dining room. I would drag a chair over to the China closet, climb atop it and just gaze at those pretty beads.

This has boxed mix in it but trust me, it's the most delicious banana pudding I've ever eaten. Or you can order it from Magnolia bakery but it's a little pricey.

Sure, NYers know how to make banana pudding.

Served too cold stifles the flavors. Banana pudding should be served at cellar temperature (around 60-65°) for its flavors to bloom nicely.

Frankly Scarlett r81 we don't give a damn

Mangnolia makes a really good banana pudding

Banana pudding should be served at room temperature. It should be a vanilla custard cooked in the stove, then mixed with over-ripe bananas (many speckled brown spots please) and poured into a casserole dish lined with vanilla wafers. The egg whites from the custard should be made into a slightly sweet meringue used to top the pudding. It all should be run in a hot oven until the meringue is browned.

If you add Cool Whip you ought to be whipped, and that includes that trashy Paula Deen.

If any of the women in my southern family had dared to pass off instant pudding and cool whip as a banana pudding, she would have been sent to the state asylum and we would never mention her name again.

You left out option #3 Garbage can

My mother's 6 layer coconut cake with 7 minute icing was so incredibly delicious if you had placed a slice on your head your tongue would have beat your brains out trying to get to it. 😃

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