Recipe: My Aunt Monica's (Bourbon) Banana Pudding
All you need is a little bit of time, some love in your heart and a few people around who crave good dessert.
My Aunt Monica spoiled the hell out of me.
Being that I was her only nephew, the way she showed love to me was to make sure she had me looking right. Trips to Central Mall in Lawton, Oklahoma, as an adolescent meant I had a chance to play $10-$20 worth of games at the arcade, or procure the latest video game, pair of sneakers or a fly Ralph Lauren outfit. All she asked in return was that my grades were good, I didn’t give my mother a hard time and I told her if she looked good when trying on outfits.
And yet, one of the things that I cherish most as a gift is her willingness to let me join her in the kitchen. My grandmother held it down for the main dishes, my mom was good on some of the sides (plus drinks and good music), but it was my aunt who was the baker and maker of sweeter dishes — including her highly-rated banana pudding.
I remember making this during a Friendsgiving years ago, and one of the homies sampled some while dinner was being distributed.
“Who made this banana pudding?” My boy Terrence yelped aloud. “It tastes like an old black woman from the south made it.”
“I did,” I yelled out proudly. “It’s my Aunt’s recipe, and she’s from Oklahoma…which is kind of the south.” And then a lively debate on “The South” broke out for about 45 minutes.
Every Thanksgiving and Christmas, I can’t help but think about her. She’s been gone from our family physically for about five years now. I miss her. I try to honor her by making delicious desserts and making sure my son (via my wife) looks dapper as hell as often as possible.
Recipe: My Aunt Monica's (Bourbon) Banana Pudding
INGREDIENTS
2 packages of instant vanilla pudding mix
3 1/2 cups milk
1 8-oz carton sour cream
2 8-oz cartons of Cool Whip (1 for pudding, 1 for topping garnish)
1 box of vanilla wafers
3 bananas sliced
1 tsp bourbon vanilla extract
1 tsp bourbon of your choice
DIRECTIONS
Combine pudding mix, extract, bourbon and milk in a bowl, and beat until thickens.
Next, fold in sour cream and whipped topping.
Let the topping thaw before you fold it into pudding.
After you get pudding, sour cream and whipped cream folded together, you are ready to start layering.
Put a little pudding on the bottom of the pan, then put vanilla wafers on top of them, then a layer of bananas, put a good amount of pudding, then more wafers on top of the pudding and then more sliced bananas. Then put pudding on top of that layer and repeat as above until all ingredients are used up.
Use a large serving dish and garnish with additional Cool Whip — you probably won’t use all of the second bowl of Cool Whip.
Chill until serving time.
One note here. I’ve bourbon-ified this pudding with the extract and splash of juice in the creation of this delicacy. Don’t feel compelled to force it in there if you’re not inclined. Just adds a nice kick.
Love you, Auntie. Thank you.
My family routinely makes Banana Pudding for Thankstaking and I haven't partaken in it for like a decade. I will have to put a lil something on my dessert plate this year thanks to this post. What a beautiful ode to your Auntie.