Solar Banana Honey Custard

We expected a very hot day with cloudless skies, and were not disappointed. It was glorious at the Midtown Market. We had a Jazz trio on the Commons and then a theater choreographer helped the children learn how to dance to Oliver's "Consider Yourself…" They did a great job and may well have been bitten by the theater bug. I had a small hand of bananas waiting to be of service, so I decided to bake this versatile custard dish that can really be used with almost any fruit.

Digging into old recipes, I was looking for one that I remember being able to bake from start to finish, with no stovetop preparation. If you've ever made Forgotten Chocolate Pudding Cake, it's the same principal. You pour the liquid ingredients over top the dry and the result is a fantastic pudding on the bottom at the end of cooking.

Banana Honey Custard
1 large can evaporated milk
1/3 cup light honey
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp cinnamon

 ½ tsp cardamom
 ½ tsp anise
3-4 cups sliced bananas
1 box vanilla wafers, crushed

Preheat solar oven to 225F       8x8 baking pan, lightly greased

Combine first five ingredients together. Cover bottom of baking pan with a light coating of crushed vanilla wafers. Add a layer of sliced banana coins (or, fruit of your choice). Pour liquid ingredients over fruit slow enough that it doesn't dislodge fruit placement. Cover and bake in solar oven for approximately 1-1/2 – 2 hours. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

The samples were not topped with either type of cream but were delicious, nonetheless. Whenever possible, I try to prepare enough food so as not to run out of samples for my visitors.  There are no hot spots in a solar oven and you can stack your foods, as well -- all will be cooked. I like using two pans. Obviously, shallower food will definitely cook in my short cooking time span; but, by using the recipe divided, I'm able to keep one pan warm, until the first pan is empty and no one has to try a cold sample. If not used, I have extra to either store or enjoy. Win-win!

Even though it was only 8:50 in the morning, the oven had reached 275F, lowered to 250F after the cooler food was placed inside, and then rose to just under 300F for cooking. The visitors were duly impressed.

You can just see the second tinfoil pan under the top pan, here.

This is a super-easy recipe to add another dimension to your fruit dishes. The custard is always creamy and adds just enough sweetness to offset the tanginess of some fruits.  I was a little heavy-handed with the vanilla wafer crumbs and made a note to never do that, again. It really takes away from the lightness of the dish. I hope you'll give it a try. What is one of your favorite baked fruit recipes?