La Crème de la Cream Pie

Place crumbs, peanut butter, and egg white in the bowl of a mini food processor and pulse on and off until well blended. Spray a 9-inch, deep-dish pie plate with cooking spray. Press crumb mixture evenly over bottom and part-way up sides of pie plate. Bake at 350ºF for 10 to 12 minutes, until edges turn golden and crust feels dry to touch. Set aside and let cool.

Pour ¼ cup evaporated milk into a small, shallow bowl and sprinkle gelatine over top to soften. Set bowl aside.

Combine brown sugar, cocoa powder, and cornstarch in a medium, non-stick saucepan. Whisk in remaining evaporated milk and cream. Cook and continue whisking over medium heat until mixture is bubbly and has thickened. Don’t rush it by cranking up the heat. You will burn the pudding. Remove from heat but leave burner on. Reduce heat to low.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg and reserved egg yolk (from crust) until lightly beaten. Add 1 cup hot pudding mixture to beaten eggs and whisk quickly until well blended. Pour egg mixture into pot with remaining pudding and return to heat. Add gelatine mixture and 1 oz chocolate. Cook and stir for 1 more minute, whisking constantly, until chocolate is completely melted.

Remove pudding from heat. Stir in vanilla. Let cool to room temperature (press plastic wrap over surface of pudding to prevent a skin from forming). Transferring the pudding to a metal bowl and refrigerating it will speed up the process.

To assemble pie, layer sliced bananas over cooled pie crust. Spoon pudding evenly over bananas and spread to edges. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours (or overnight) so filling can “set”. Yes, this is a long time to wait!

To serve pie, slice into 8 wedges and garnish individual pieces with a dollop of light whipped topping. Place one banana slice on whipped topping. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Enjoy!