Banana Pudding Cake

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoondouble-acting baking powder
• 4 bananasliced
• 1 teaspooncocoa powder
• 3 egg yolkbeaten
• 7 eggsseparated
• 1 cupflour
• 1 cupcup heavy whipping cream
• 2 cupsmilkcold
• 0.3 cuppowdered sugar
• 1 Dashsalt
• 12 servingspudding
• 0.5 cupsugar
• 1 tablespoonvanilla
• 1 teaspoonvanilla extract
• 3 cupsvanilla waferscrumbled
• 12 servingswhipped cream

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• sauce pan
• baking paper
• oven
• mixing bowl
• double boiler
• hand mixer

Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks with sugar and set aside.In bowl of an electric mixer, whip egg whites until stiff.
2. Add baking powder, processed wafers, and cocoa to egg yolk mixture.Drop about 1/4 of egg whites into larger bowl and fold lightly. Fold in remaining whites carefully.Line a jellyroll sheet pan with parchment paper covering all sides and spray paper with non-stick floured baking spray.
3. Spread cake batter onto paper, so it covers the entire pan.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
5. Let cake cool completely on sheet (at least 30 minutes to an hour).*As cake cools, mix sugar, flour and salt in top of a double boiler. (If you dont have a double boiler, a larger saucepan on top a smaller saucepan with water boiling works just fine!)Blend in egg yolks and milk. Cook, uncovered, over boiling water, stirring constantly for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened.
6. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.When cake is cooled, carefully lift the parchment paper, remove from pan and place on a flat surface. Starting from the short end, cut into three even pieces.
7. Place first layer of cake on a serving platter.
8. Spread half of the custard over the top of the cake, then cover with one third of the banana slices. Take about one third of the crumbled wafers and sprinkle over custard-banana layer. Top with next piece of cake and repeat, being sure to reserve a few bananas and crumbled cookies.
9. Spread the final amount of custard onto the top layer of cake, and refrigerate the whole cake for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve.Just before serving, make whipped cream topping.
10. Combine all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until cream thickens and becomes stiff.
11. Spread whipped cream on cake and top with remaining banana and wafers.*You can even spread the whipped cream on the final cake layer and refrigerate all together. We suggest not topping the cake with the fresh bananas and cookies until you are ready to serve, however. Otherwise, the bananas will brown. Keep them fresh by sprinkling with a bit of lemon juice and placing them in an airtight container until ready to use.