RECIPE | MAGNOLIA BAKERY'S BANANA PUDDING WITH STRAWBERRIES

I've always loved banana pudding, well I love bananas in general. Believe it or not, I started making Magnolia Bakery's banana pudding before I even tasted it. I originally found a recipe on Allrecipes.com and then I later found a easier one which is the one I have below except this time I added some strawberries because who doesn't love bananas and strawberries? Later on when I finally tried Magnolia Bakery's pudding, it was no better than the one I have been making for years! Now I usually make it every other week and my husband eats the whole thing in one day because it is that good! Don't wait till you are in NYC to eat this because you will be missing out on a little piece of heaven! I'm currently trying to make this recipe from scratch, however I still haven't been able to find an easy way to make condensed milk, it takes a lot of effort to make it. So, until then I will keep making it the simple way and when I say simple it is really easier than a piece of cake!

Our neighbor brought me and my husband some Noah's Ark Pudding, you can read about it here in case you missed my previous post on it. In Turkish culture, when you are given a dish you need to fill it with something when you are returning the empty dish. So, I decided that Magnolia Pudding would be the best thing to make in return and share with my neighbor. 

MAGNOLIA BAKERY BANANA PUDDING WITH STRAWBERRIES

Ingredients

• 16 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups ice cold water
• Small box (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 3 cups heavy whipping cream
• Box of vanilla wafers preferably Nilla Wafers
• 1 pack of sliced strawberries
• 3-4 sliced bananas

Instructions

1. In a large deep bowl, beat sweetened condensed milk and water for about a minute. Add the pudding mix and beat for about two more minutes. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. You want the mixture to be extremely firm.
2. In a large bowl whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the pudding mixture until fully combined and no streaks of pudding are visible.
3. In a bowl or bowls of choice, layer wafers, strawberries and bananas, and pudding. Ideally, you want three layers but if you go with a larger baking dish you might only have two. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 8 hours before serving. Feel free to crush the wafers and layer the top of the pudding.