Banana Cream Pie with Peanut Brittle Crust and Bourbon Caramel Sauce

To make the Pastry Cream Filling

In a medium bowl, beat together egg yolks, sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt.

In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, warm milk or half-and-half until it just starts to simmer. Add hot milk to egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly until blended. Pour mixture back in the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it bubbles and thickens, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in butter, vanilla and bourbon.

Allow to cool completely. You can make this custard a day ahead and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

To make the pie

Combine caramel sauce and bourbon in a small pot; allow to simmer for 1 minute.

Layer bananas and pastry cream filling into crust, finishing the top with pastry cream.

To garnish, beat heavy whipping cream with powdered sugar and vanilla and mound over the top of the pie. Sprinkle with chopped peanut brittle or peanuts and serve with warm bourbon sauce.

Special notes:

PCC sells organic vanilla pudding mix, which, although not quite as decadent, would be great in this recipe in place of the pie filling. A 3.8-ounce package makes 2 cups of pudding, just right for the pie. I like to add a touch of vanilla scraped from the inside of a vanilla bean or a splash of bourbon to the finished pudding.