There is a bakery in New York City that I try to hit every time I go. Magnolia Bakery was one of the original bakeries to start the cupcake craze, but despite having some of the best cupcakes around, they’ve developed a cult following for their banana pudding. I had it a few years ago and filed it away in my “figure out how to make this” file in my brain, but it wasn’t until I came across this copycat recipe that I decided to get down to business.
It turns out the recipe didn’t need any tweaking because it is the actual Magnolia recipe from their actual cookbook. Score! I simplified the wording a bit, but the ingredients are spot on and the taste is out of this world. My family inhaled every bit of this for dessert in one night (which eventually involved just sticking our spoons straight in the trifle dish — forget individual bowls!)
Making this couldn’t be easier, but the results are impressive to eat and to look at. Don’t be turned off by the use of instant pudding mix. I was at first, but nothing about this dish tastes semi-homemade.
Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding
1 1/2 cups ice cold water
1 box (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups heavy cream
1 (12-ounce) box vanilla wafers
4 bananas, sliced
Mix together the water, pudding mix, and sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight until it sets up. Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form. Working in thirds, fold the whipped cream into the pudding mixture until well incorporated. In a 4.5 qt. capacity trifle dish, layer vanilla wafers, sliced bananas, and pudding mixture; continue until you’ve used up all the pudding mixture. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours before serving.
Serves 8.

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