HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BANANA PUDDING RECIPES

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, mix sugar, flour and salt. Whisk in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat., In a small bowl, whisk eggs. Whisk a small amount of hot mixture into eggs; return all to pan, whisking constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Cool 15 minutes, stirring occasionally., In an ungreased 8-in. square baking dish, layer 25 vanilla wafers, half of the banana slices and half of the pudding. Repeat layers., Press plastic wrap onto surface of pudding. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Just before serving, remove wrap; crush remaining wafers and sprinkle over top.

Steps:

• Make cake: Preheat oven to 350°. Line two round 9" cake pans with parchment paper and grease with cooking spray. Prepare cake mix according to package instructions. Divide batter between cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cakes cool for 10 minutes in pans then invert onto wire racks to cool completely. Make pudding: In a large bowl, combine pudding mix and milk and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes. Fold in Cool Whip. Make buttercream frosting: In a large bowl using a hand mixer, combine butter, 3 cups powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Add remaining sugar and heavy cream and beat until smooth. Assemble cake: Using a serrated knife, cut off the rounded top of each cake to level. Top one cake with a layer of pudding then top with most of the banana slices (reserve some for garnish). Place second cake on top and frost entire cake with buttercream, reserving about 1 cup to pipe on top. Press crushed Nilla wafers around the sides of the cake. Transfer remaining buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe large swirls around the top of the cake. Decorate with Nilla wafers and more banana slices.