Magnolia's Famous Banana Pudding

Luke has been asking for this recipe. I'm delivering. H made this for my birthday back when we were dating. That's when I knew I wanted to marry her. It wasn't quite the same as the original (sorry H), but it was pretty darn close. I'm sure with a bit of tweaking and experimenting one could get it undeniably close.

This is word-for-word from the official Magnolia Bakery cookbook:

Ingredients:

• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1.5 cups ice cold water
• 1 3.4-ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix (preferably Jell-O brand)
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 12-ounch box Nabisco Nilla Wafers (no substitutions!)
• 4 cups sliced ripe bananas

In a small bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and water until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the pudding mix and beat well, about 2 minutes more. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight, before continuing. It is very important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped ream until well blended and no streaks of pudding remain.

To assemble the dessert, select a large, wide bowl (preferably glass) with a 4-5 quart capacity. Arrange one-third of the bananas and one-third of the wafers to cover the bottom of the bowl, overlapping if necessary, then one-third of the bananas and one-third of the pudding. Repeat the layering twice more, garnishing with additional wafers or wafer crumbs on the top layer of the pudding. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours--or up to 8 hours, but no longer!--before serving.

Serves 12-15 (or 1 Jed)

Enjoy!

PS. If you've never had banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery in NYC, I'm sorry first of all, but second of all, you NEED to try this recipe, even--actually, especially--if you don't normally like banana pudding.