For more than 100 years, banana pudding has been the Queen of Southern desserts. Every southern state has its specialties: Derby Pie in Kentucky, Bread Pudding in Louisiana, and Key Lime Pie in Florida to name a few. But every Southern cook worth their salt makes Banana Pudding.

The origins of the dish are a bit murky, but most food historians agree that the first recipe for a pudding featuring bananas was printed in Mrs. Rorer’s New Cook Book (1902) by Sarah Tyson Rorer, considered America’s first dietitian and founder of the Philadelphia Cooking School, in a section she called “Hawaiian Recipes.”

The following year, 1903, Mary Harris Frazier published The Kentucky Receipt Book, which contained the following recipe:

Banana Pudding

Take a half dozen bananas, peel and cut in pieces an inch thick, put in baking dish and pour over custard made in the following manner:                   Custard-one pint of milk, 3 eggs, beat the yolks light, add milk, also two tablespoons of granulated sugar. Have the milk boiling, add the eggs and let it cook until it thickens; when cool pour over the bananas. Make a meringue with the whites and granulated sugar, put on top of custard, set in oven a few minutes to brown.                                                                                                                      Serve at once.

The Woman Suffrage Cook Book, (edited by Mrs. Hattie A. Burr, c. 1886) contained the following recipe by a Mrs. B. M. Frazier for vanilla wafers:

Ingredients

1 cup (200 g) sugar

2/3 cup (170 g) butter

4 tbsp (60 ml) milk

1 egg

1 tsp (3 g) cream of tartar

1/2 tsp (2.3 g) baking soda

1 pinch salt

1 tbsp (15 ml) pure vanilla extract (or better, vanilla paste)

5 cups (600 g) flour (or as needed)

The original instructions do not specify the exact amount of flour, they just say to add enough flour to roll the dough very thin. Begin by adding 4 cups (454 g) of flour and then add as much as needed to make a supple dough that is easy to roll. Adding too little flour will make the dough too soft and sticky, adding too much will make it dry and brittle–in both cases it will be very difficult to roll. If you realize you added too much flour, add some more milk (1 tbsp at a time), until the dough is again supple and easy to handle.

Preheat the oven at 350°F (180°C).

Cream the butter, then add the sugar and mix well. Add the egg and beat until well incorporated, then add the milk and vanilla and mix well. Sift 4 cups of flour with the

salt, the cream of tartar and the baking soda, and add these to the butter mixture. Mix well and then add enough extra flour until the dough holds together and is firm and supple, easy to roll.

On a very lightly floured surface roll the dough very thin (1/8 inch–3 mm), and cut with a cookie cutter. Using a thin metal spatula transfer the cookies to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake for about 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden. Transfer the cookies on a rack to cool–they will be soft just out of the oven but will become crisp as they cool. Keep in an airtight container.

No one knows for sure who the first culinary genius was to marry banana pudding with vanilla wafers, but by 1901, the National Biscuit Company was marketing their brand of the tasty little cookie, and soon thereafter put a recipe on the side of their box of Vanilla Wafers (changed to their trademarked Nabisco Nilla Wafers in 1968) that has become the standard for banana pudding by which all others are judged.

Original Nilla Banana Pudding

Ready in: 60 mins.

Layers of Nilla wafers, creamy pudding and fresh banana slices
are the stars of this American classic.

3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Dash salt
3 eggs, separated
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
45 NILLA Wafers, divided
5 ripe bananas, sliced (about 3 1/2 cups), divided
Additional NILLA Wafers and banana slices, for garnish

1. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt in top of double boiler.
Blend in 3 egg yolks and milk. Cook, uncovered, over boiling water,
stirring constantly for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened. Remove
from heat; stir in vanilla.

2. Reserve 10 wafers for garnish. Spread small amount of custard
on bottom of 1 1/2-quart casserole; cover with a layer of wafers
and a layer of sliced bananas. Pour about 1/3 of custard over
bananas. Continue to layer wafers, bananas and custard to make
a total of 3 layers of each, ending with custard.

3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gradually add remaining
1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Spoon on top of
pudding, spreading evenly to cover entire surface and sealing well to edges.

4. Bake at 350°F in top half of oven for 15 to 20 minutes or
until browned. Cool slightly or refrigerate. Garnish with
additional wafers and banana slices just before serving.

Makes 8 servings

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION per serving
287 calories, 6 g protein, 50 g carbohydrate, 7 g total fat,
2 g saturated fat, 117 mg cholesterol, 134 mg sodium,
1 g dietary fiber.

Preparation Time: 30 mins.
Cook Time: 15 mins.
Cooling Time: 15 mins.
Total Time: 60 mins.

So what could make this classic of the South even better than it already is?

Peanut Butter.

Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches have been a childhood staple since who knows when. We know for sure that Gladys Presley used to make them for her baby boy, Elvis. As an adult, the King was known to eat forty at a time, fried in butter with the crusts removed. They could be one of the reasons his colon was the size of Sara Palin’s  ego when he expired, sitting on a toilet, straining for a movement.

A couple of weeks ago, I was fooling around in the kitchen and decided to make a banana pudding following the classic recipe, but making the first layer of wafers out of peanut butter and vanilla wafer sandwiches. Folks, I’m here to tell you, when I took that first bite, I could hear Elvis say, “Mama, why didn’t you think of this?”

Now, I’ve done a Google search, and can find no recipe that matches the one I came up with. There are those that combine peanut butter and bananas in various pudding recipes, but none that do it totally my way. So I guess this gives me naming rights. What with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming, and more importantly, January 8th, Elvis’ Birthday, I dub this creation the Presley Puddin’ (TM). The Queen of Southern Puddings is now fit for its King.

Bon Appetit!