Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Pie

With spring starting to bloom, I invited some of my best city girlfriends down to Pomfret for a weekend retreat. After a day of wine tasting at Taylor Brooke Winery and shopping at Periwinkles and Martha’s Herbary, we sat around my porch sipping cucumber cocktails and nibbling on grilled flank steak with arugula, watermelon and feta salads.

To end on a sweet note, I found inspiration from Marni’s last visit to the countryside. She brought down with her a delectably decadent Mississippi Mud pie from one of her beloved neighborhood bakeries, Petsi Pies. This time, I wanted to replicate another one of the shop’s irresistible classics for dessert. This pie is the ultimate indulgence.

Petsi’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Pie (adapted by Cooking Channel)

Chocolate Cream Filling
4 large egg yolks
2/3 c granulated sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 t salt
3 c whole milk
6 oz semisweet chocolate, melted
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 T plus 1 t unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 t vanilla extract

Chocolate Cookie Crust
1 1/4 c Oreo cookie crumbs (cream filling removed)
3 T granulated sugar
5 T unsalted butter, melted

Peanut Butter Filling
1 c creamy peanut butter
8 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 c sifted confectioners' sugar
2 bananas, peeled and sliced

Chocolate Ganache
4 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 c heavy cream

Chocolate Cream Filling: Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a heavy saucepan until well combined, then, while whisking, slowly pour in the milk. Warm the mixture over medium heat until a few bubbles burst at the surface, reduce the heat to low, and gently simmer while whisking until the mixture thickens, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and whisk in the semisweet and unsweetened chocolates, 2 tablespoons butter and the vanilla until well combined. Lightly grease a sheet of waxed or parchment paper with the remaining 1 teaspoon butter and press it flush against the surface of filling. Set the filling aside to cool completely, about 2 hours.

Chocolate Cookie Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the cookie crumbs, sugar and butter in a small bowl and stir until the crumbs are well moistened. Pat the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom and all the way up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan.  Bake the crust until firm, about 5 minutes. Remove the cookie crust from the oven and set aside to cool.

Peanut Butter Filling: Beat the peanut butter and butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until well combined. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the confectioners' sugar. Once it is all added, increase the mixer speed to high and beat until the peanut butter filling is smooth and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.

Chocolate Ganache: Add the chocolate chips, heavy cream and instant coffee to a medium heat-safe bowl and set it over a medium saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water. Whisk the mixture occasionally until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth and warm.

Pie assembly: Arrange the sliced bananas over the chocolate cookie crust. Add the chilled chocolate cream filling and use a spatula to spread it into an even layer. Top with an even layer of the peanut butter filling, then drizzle with chocolate ganache. Refrigerate until serving (I recommend refrigerating the pie overnight to let it set). Serves 10-12.

An irresistible treat for my irresistible amigas!