Banana Bread Pie with Melted Brandy Butter Glaze

Recipe by The Pie Co., Copenhagen

If you’ve visited the pie shop, you might be familiar with our “bread pies” which essentially are our take on English bread puddings, bread that has been baked in sweetly spiced custard. It’s also a great way to use up day-old bread or overly ripe bananas. We like to serve it warm with a melted buttery sweet glaze – the perfect weekend treat. Enjoy!

Makes ca. 8-10 servings

600 g Loaf of brioche, sødmælk or yogurt bread cut in cubes and dried
600 g mashed banana (about 4-5 medium bananas - over-ripe are best!)
3 Eggs
6 Egg yolks
150 g Sugar
50 g brown sugar or muscovado sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
300 ml whole milk
300 ml cream
2 tsp vanilla extract (or essence)
100 g chopped walnuts (optional)

Brandy Butter Glaze
150 g butter, melted
300 g powdered sugar
3 tablespoons brandy or cognac (optional)

HOW TO:
Cut bread into cubes and allow to dry overnight, OR preheat your oven to 150 C and place the bread cubes on a baking tray. Bake about 15-20 minutes or until the bread is dried out.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until you have a mix of both mashed, medium and small chunks of bananas. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, milk and cream until smooth.

Stir in the mashed bananas. Add the chopped walnuts to the mixture, if you’re including them.

Place the dried bread in a shallow baking dish and, pour mixture over bread and gently toss then gently press the bread down into the wet mixture. Then allow the bread soak up mixture for 5-10 minutes.

Generously grease a 23-25 cm baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 165 C. Transfer the soaked bread mixture into the prepared baking dish, including any excess liquid mixture. Sprinkle with raw or pearl sugar, and bake for 30-40 minutes until the top is turning golden brown. Then cover the top with foil and bake another 30 minutes. You can gently press the center to check if it’s done - it shoud be firm (not overly soft). You can also check to see if it’s baked through by poking knife into center -- if it comes out clean it's done. You may need to bake it an extra 5-10 min. as all ovens are different.

Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before cutting slices.

Brandy Butter Glaze

Melt butter in a saucepan or in the microwave, then whisk together with powdered sugar and brandy until smooth. Serve warm over a slice of the warm banana bread pie. To store, keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container. To warm again, simply melt the glaze in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth, melted and warm.

NOTE: This bread pie can keep in the refrigerator nicely for several days.