My favorite flannel-wearing, softball-playing, Allandale-living, antique-shopping friend requested a banana cream pie for his birthday.

I couldn’t find a lactose free (yet not vegan or tofu-full) recipe for the pudding so I decided to make one up. Using coconut cream and amazingly vibrant yellow egg yolks from a friend’s farm, the experiment worked. I’d forgotten how much I love pudding. And now I’ve made this 3 times in 1 week already and can’t seem to stop eating it.

I have yet to find a whipped cream recipe sans dairy, so this pie had a layer of lightly sweetened whipped cream on top for the dairy-lovers out there, several layers of bananas, and a nice ginger graham cracker crust. I think it went over quite well.

The Pudding (makes enough for 2 pies)
2 eggs + 8 egg yolks
1 can coconut cream (2 1/2 cups)
3 cups almond milk
1 1/3 cups sugar
pinch of salt
4 Tablespoons tapioca starch
5 Tablespoons arrowroot starch
2 Tablespoons cornstarch (if making pie)

Beat the eggs and yolks together in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Over low-medium heat, warm the cream, milk, sugar and salt. Mix slowly and constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm through. Slowly whisk a tablespoon at a time of the tapioca and arrowroot. If making pie, add the cornstarch too. If simply making a pudding, omit. Simmer over medium heat and continue to stir until the mixture coats the spoon well, 7-9 minutes. Do not bring to a boil. Make sure you stir into the corners of the pot, the starches will start to clump if you don’t keep mixing.

Slowly whisk 1 tablespoon at a time of the cream mixture into the eggs. After a few tablespoons, slowly add the remaining cream into the eggs.

Wipe the saute pan clean. Pour the custard mixture through a fine-mesh sieve back into the pot. Over low-medium heat stir slowly and constantly again until the custard begins to thicken. Continue to stir until thick, about 6-8 minutes (if it takes a little longer, just keep stirring!). Once it starts to thicken, the custard will set fast, within 3 minutes. Stir constantly.

Transfer pudding to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill completely.

Ginger Graham Cracker Crust (makes 2 pie crusts)
10 ounces gluten free graham crackers
6 ounces pecans (1 1/2 cups)
6 ounces butter, at room temperature
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 Tablespoons tapioca powder

Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, blend graham crackers and pecans until fine. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until incorporated.

Press the crust into pie pans with your fingers, pushing the crust up the sides. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until slightly browned.

Cool completely before pouring in pudding.

Assembly
Slice 2 bananas lengthwise. Line the crust with bananas. Do not overlap, but allow the bananas to get close. Pour half of the pudding mixture onto the bananas. Layer another lay of 2 bananas atop the pudding. If using whipped cream, pile on top of additional layer of bananas. If not, arrange bananas in a presentable design. Repeat for the second pie.

Chill until ready to serve.