I've never made a banana dessert before, not counting breads and muffins of course. I'm typically drawn to chocolate anything before fruity numbers. Side-note: lets be clear friends, breads and muffins are snacks, most definitely not desserts. The only exception is a chocolate chocolate muffin, i.e. Costco's GIANT Double Chocolate Chip Muffins. 12 pack. Buy it and thank me later.

I digress. A few years ago, I went to NYC's famous Magnolia Bakery to sample their cupcakes. Apparently, I should have gotten their banana pudding too- people go cray for it. Since I won't be back to Mag's bakery anytime soon and banana's peak season is now (who knew?), I gave their recipe a go. It comes from their new cookbook, but I used the same recipe from this lovely blog, which has ridiculously delicious looking pictures of the dessert. Also, home girl took it up a notch by adding a salted caramel topper <fist-bump> which pairs perfectly with the pudding. Well played.

Aren't these (Bonne Maman) jars just so darn cute? Props to my coworker for giving me the idea of using these for desserts (and cocktails)!

Few things to note:
1. PLAN AHEAD when you're going to make this! It's a really straight-forward recipe, mostly fast except for the portions when you have to let it sit in the fridge for several hours. The easiest solution for me was to make the caramel and first part of the pudding recipe the night before, plop it in the fridge and finish it up in the AM, planning the serve it that evening.
2. The caramel does not need to be refrigerated - it thickens at room temperature.
3. This caramel recipe will make much more than you need for the pudding... but you will not be upset about it. Trust me, you'll find use for it.

Va bene? Va bene.

Magnolia Bakery's Banana Pudding with Salted Caramel
Recipe from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook & ringfingertanline.com

Ingredients – Pudding
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1½ cups cold water
1 (3.4-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups heavy cream
1 (12-ounce) box Nabisco Nilla Wafers
4 cups sliced ripe bananas

Ingredients – Caramel
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1 1/4 cups heavy cream, warmed
3 tsp fleur de sel (Pro Tip: I only used 2 tsp which was plenty salty)

Directions – Pudding
1. In a medium-sized bowl, beat sweetened condensed milk and water for about a minute. Add the pudding mix and beat for about two more minutes.
2. Transfer to a smaller bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
3. In a large bowl on medium speed, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the pudding mixture until combined.
4. In a large bowl, layer wafers, bananas, and pudding. (Pro Tip: I started off with a small scoop of the pudding at the bottom.) Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 8 hours before serving.

Directions – Caramel
1. Combine the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. This is the only time you can stir the sugar. If you stir it while it's cooking, it turns to rock candy. Place the saucepan over medium to low heat until the sugars start to dissolve, 5 to 10 minutes. Then turn the heat up to medium-high and cook until the sugar starts to caramelize, 5 to 7 minutes (Pro Tip: this took me more like 9 mins). Do not stir while this is happening. You've got to watch the pot, because it goes from caramel to burnt really quickly. And be careful, the mixture is extremely hot!
2. Turn off the heat and stand back to avoid splattering. Slowly add the cream. Don't panic - the cream will bubble violently, and the caramel will solidify. Just give it more time to liquefy again-trust me!
3. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Pro Tip: if your caramel is too liquidity (mine was 5/6 times I've made this), simmer over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes. It's not a bad idea to do this regardless for 5 mins, just to be safe.
4. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits. Stir in salt. Pro Tip: I transferred mine to a container after 2 hrs, it was cool enough.

On my first trip to New York City in the spring of 2009, I decided to embark on a journey: to find the tastiest cupcake NYC has to offer. It was a short trip, so I had to be focused. Sadly, I did not make it to the top of the Empire State Building or see the Statue of Liberty, but I did make it to three cupcake shops. Now that's what I call a successful trip!

Left to right: PB, Cookie Dough & Cappuccino

First, my girlfriends and I hit up a cupcake place that has a lot of hub-bub: Crumbs Bake Shop. The shop may be small, but the cupcakes are ginormous. We snagged three to try: Peanut Butter Cup, Cookie Dough and Cappuccino. Thoughts? The frosting-to-cake ratio was off; there was waaay too much frosting/topping for your own good. Plus, each of them had a frosting filling too, not like it needed anymore. All this frosting was crazy sweet too, which is ok for a bite or two, but come bite three, things start to turn bad.

Crumbs Bake Shop Rating: 1.5 cupcake wrappers

Next cupcake stop was at another crowd pleaser: Magnolia Bakery. This place was featured in a Sex and the City episode, so yeah, it's popular. We're talking line-out-the-door-and-around-the-block popular. So we waited in line with the other schmucks for our cupcakes, hoping they would be worth all the fuss. We ordered three cupcakes to sample, and to be honest, I can't even remember what they were. They were that forgettable. The only thing I recall is thinking they were OK, nothing special about them...not to mention it made me question Carrie and Miranda's taste in cupcakes.

Magnolia Bakery Rating: 2.5 cupcake wrappers

Left to right: Classic Chocolate , Red Velvet with Cream Cheese frosting on the right, hi old friend!

Last, but certainly not least, on our way to walk The Highline, I spotted a cute little bakery in the distance: Billy's Bakery. I insisted that we stop by after our walk and man am I glad we did. This cute, quaint shop is very unassuming and could easily be passed by if it weren't for my cupcake radar. I ended up splitting two cupcakes with one of my friends: Red Velvet and Classic Chocolate. Red Velvet was the CLEAR winner and I immediately regretted agreeing to split the second half. Cake to frosting ratio was perfect, cake was moist and a lovely light chocolatey flavor and the cream cheese frosting was just the right amount of sweet. It made me want to track down Billy and give him a high-five.

illy's Bakery Rating: 5 cupcake wrappers

The next time you find yourself in need of a cupcake in NYC, go treat yo-self with a Red Velv at (my future BFF) Billy's Bakery.

Dessert Fiend