Magnolia's Banana Pudding

For our trip to NYC last week I let the hubs plan out all of our time there (since it was his first time to the Big Apple) and I only had one simple request: to go to a good bakery.

I decided against Laduree because it wasn't near anywhere we were going and because honestly if you put macarons and cupcakes side by side I will choose the cupcake any day. Luckily Magnolia Bakery is all over the city so we were able to stop at one of them and pick up some treats. I wanted one of everything but I settled for just a cupcake and one of their flour-less chocolate tarts (wasn't disappointed).

Ever since then, though, I've been hearing how amazing their banana pudding is supposed to be. Obviously I'm too late to try it out but apparently their recipe is included in the Magnolia Bakery cookbook and it's supposed to taste exactly the same. I'm picking up that cookbook ASAP, but in the meantime I found an ever-so-slightly adapted version HERE, tried it, and am indeed impressed. It's good stuff guys. And I never thought I would be a banana pudding type person...now I am.

Magnolia's Banana Pudding
Serves 2-3

• 4.5oz sweetened condensed milk (about 1/3 can)
• 1/2c ice cold water
• 1oz instant vanilla pudding (sugar-free fat-free comes in 1oz boxes)
• 1c heavy whipping cream
• Vanilla wafers
• 2-3 bananas, sliced

Directions:

Beat together the sweetened condensed milk and water for about a minute then add the pudding mix. Beat for another few minutes until smooth and pour the mixture into a small bowl. Place in the fridge or freezer until very firm. (Suggested time for the fridge is 4 hours, I kept mine in the freezer for about 30 minutes.)

Beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form, then gently fold in the pudding mixture.

In a medium-sized bowl (or 3 small bowls) layer the wafers, bananas, then cream. Repeat until you've used up all of the ingredients then refrigerate for at least 8 hours.