Southern "Down Home" Desserts

Whether on the plantation or in the trailer park, southern desserts are rich with tradition, taking the best of available fruits and even vegetables from many different sources.

Banana Pudding

No one is quite sure about who made the first banana pudding, but it's a sure thing as to who's eating most of it, so we'll claim it down south--ya'll.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 1/2 cups sugar 2 (12 oz.) cans evaporated milk 1/2 stick butter 4 egg yolks 6 bananas sliced to 1/2 inch thickness Vanilla Wafers 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Set a large heavy saucepan on low heat. Add sugar, flour and salt. Pour in the evaporated milk stirring constantly. The mixture will thicken slowly, about 15 minutes. Separate eggs and lightly beat the egg yolks in bowl. Add a cup of the thickened milk mixture to the eggs and whisk. Add the egg mixture into the saucepan and whisk vigorously until mixture is well mixed. Remove the saucepan and stir in the butter and the vanilla extract. Pour the pudding into a bowl and cover. Let cool in refrigerator for 2 hours. Into a large baking dish, add a layer of vanilla wafers then a layer of sliced bananas, and top with pudding. Repeat the layers. Top with more wafers. The only thing better than banana pudding is banana pudding the next day!

Key Lime Pie

The history of Key Lime pie has absolutely no doubt. Key limes grow naturally in Florida. They're smaller than the domesticated Persian lime that we are used to seeing in the grocery store—but they're more aromatic and acidic than their tamer cousins. Real key lime pie is made with real key limes. Anything else is just a lime pie.

Ingredients

Crust: 16 crushed graham crackers 3 tbsp. sugar 1/4 lb. margarine or butter (melted)

Pie: 4 egg yolks 1/2 c. fresh key lime juice 2 tbsp. grated lime peel 1 (14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

Directions Mix the crushed graham crackers with the sugar. Pour the butter in. Put the mixture in a 9" pie pan and gently press into place. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes, until the crust is light brown in color. Let it cool.

Beat the eggs until they turn thick and light yellow in color (a mixer helps). While mixing on a low speed, add in the condensed milk as well as half of the lime juice. When it's all mixed together, add the rest of the lime juice as well as the lime peel and continue mixing until it is completely blended. Pour this mixture onto the cooled pie crust. Bake in the oven (again, 350 degrees) for about 10 - 12 minutes. Be careful that it doesn't take on a rubber-like texture. Let the pie cool a bit, then top with whipped cream and chill until ready to serve.

As always, the main thing to remember about Southern cooking is to keep it authentic. Your family will appreciate it and you can take pride in knowing you're carrying on a rich tradition.