6/4/12

Sombremesa de Banana com Queijo

Here’s something you don’t eat everyday.
I just got home from a dear friend’s wedding/long weekend in Pittsburgh. And while I loved spending time with so many people that I haven’t seen in years, crying tears of nuptial joy, and being treated to multiple sushi dinners by my mom and grandma, this morning, I woke up craving my routine—my morning coffee, hiking, avocado-centric lunches, and the making of foods.

I came across this banana and cheese pudding in the most recent issue of Saveur, and try as I might, I couldn’t resist attempting it. Never mind that I just made a giant layer cake, that Matt and I are “trying to be healthier,” and that I’m deathly allergic to bananas (not true).

Also, Matt and I are moving, (More on this exciting, life-stage leaping development later! No, I’m not pregnant.) and one of the first decisions I made after entering escrow was that this elderly can of sweetened condensed milk that’s been in the cupboard for longer than I’d care to admit will not be making the trip to the new house with us. (That’s right, cupboard lingerers. You know who you are and your time is up.)
Hey, here’s a tip! You might want to stir the sweetened condensed milk and the evaporated milk together before boiling. I combined the two milks, added a cinnamon stick, turned the heat on to medium, and then decided to vacuum the bedroom. Why do I do these things? Also, while we’re on the topic of painful questions: Why must Shawn Johnson retire? What an Olympic-sized bummer.
Point being, if you’re not training for the Olympics, you should make this dessert. It’s the sort of thing Ina Garten would make if she were Brazilian—a dulce-de-leche-esque pudding with bananas and pockets of molten cream cheese, which perfectly cuts all that sweetness. What’s that, Ina? How bad can that be? Well, apart from the super-burnt pan, not bad at all!
Sombremesa de Banana com Queijo (Banana and Cheese Pudding) via Saveur
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 12. oz. can evaporated milk
1 stick cinnamon
4 ripe bananas, cut crosswise into 2 inch pieces, then lengthwise in 1/4-inch thick slices
12 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Boil milks and cinnamon stick in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until reduced by half, about 30 minutes; discard cinnamon. Spread 1/3 reduced milk over bottom of an 8x8 baking dish; top with half the bananas and half the cream cheese. Repeat layering, ending with reduced milk; sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Bake until bubbly, about 30 minutes. (A prettier presentation, as they show in their photo—second one from top—might be to layer all of this into individual oven-safe ramekins and then bake them.)

30 comments:

Matthew said...

I just ate my ramekin! It was awesome -- almost like banana pudding w/ little pieces of warm cheesecake.

tannaz sassooni said...

wait, moving?! you're burying the lede here. tell us more!!

Jessica said...

Pudding and cheese cake!? OMG this looks AMAZING. Congrats on the whole escrow thing, too! MORE DETAILS PLEASE!
-Jess

greenbeenfood said...

So nice to visit your blog... It's been a while. Your images are so beautiful and this pudding looks delicious and a bit different from the usual! Dayle

talley said...

I think I'd like to meet the Ina Garten of Brazil, I'm sure she makes kick-ass pão de queijo. (On the subject of countries and their requisite Ina/Martha I recently asked who plays that role in Switzerland and people looked at me like I was batty, there is no idol cook/master-of-all-crafts woman here - WHAT? no Martha? I like even more of an outsider than I did before, hmpf). Anyway...I digress...this banana & dulce de leche pudding sounds incredible. I think I'll try it with ramekins, but only because they might provide some assemblance of portion control, which I need when it comes to dulce de leche infused desserts. Exciting about the move!

ileana said...

Good luck with your move! I just moved into a new apartment, wasn't as difficult as I expected it to be. And the bigger kitchen is soo worth it.

Ashley Blom said...

Mmm delish! I'm always looking for an alternative way to use overripe bananas--besides banana bread. Oh and besides just eating them because I'm one of those weird people who likes their bananas as spotty as possible...

Anonymous said...

Woah this looks good

Mary Anne said...

Why, Shawn, WHY?????

Unknown said...

1. This sounds awesome and weird. And awesome. But also weird.
2. Congrats!! Where are you going? Please say, like, 8 blocks south of where you are now :).
3. I know what you mean about missing routine. I got home late last night, swept the kitchen floor, and went to bed, excited to wake up and float about in my weird 70s mumu drinking coffee and watching the light change. Strange habitual creatures...

Anonymous said...

Like the trendy molten, half-cooked chocolate cakes of decades a yore, what an intriguing half-baked cheesecake recreation!

Kara said...

I am SO glad to hear that someone else combines activities that should not be combined, i.e. sauteeing vegetables and taking things to the garage, or throwing cookies in the oven and walking the dog...

Also, this pudding kind of looks like curry to me. I mean, I KNOW that it's a dessert (and I want you to serve it wearing the outfit the girls are wearing in the picture), but I kind of want to throw some chicken legs in there, you know?

Or maybe you don't know...in any case, I love that you flew home and got right back in the kitchen. You are an inspiration to us all, and a danger to those canned cherries in our cupboard that moved to Colorado with us...
xoxo

Amelia Morris said...

It's not fair!! I WISH THE OLYMPICS WOULD ADJUST TO HER RECOVERY SCHEDULE!!!

Amelia Morris said...

hahahahhaa. OK fine, one detail: we're moving eastward! :) :)

Unknown said...

oh man, I need some of this. But not as badly as i need matt and amelia IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD!!!!!!!!! (if our enthusiasm is getting creepy, please let us know.)

Mary Anne said...

OK, I have recovered from the news about Shawn and was able to finish reading the post/think about something other than the tragedy of young Shawn's career being cut short. (It's like Kim Zmeskal--my childhood hero--all over again!! Fool me once, gymnastics...)

Anyway, this is such an unusual recipe, I think I would have skipped right over it, but it sounds GREAT! Glad you tried it! I want to try it toooo!

Also, I read this. It's a great read: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/226268.Kim_Zmeskal

Anne Zimmerman said...

I burned an entire pot of braised greens tonight because instead of tending to them I was watching the eclipse from the telescope my neighbor set up. It was worth it! Here's to happy disasters. And moves. And other things, ordinary and not.

Ms.Nožisková said...

i also wasn't sure if we were headed toward sweet or savory till we got to the can of condensed milk (which makes me inclined to invent a savory version & also muse how bordens became a staple of latin american cuisine) but am desperate to recreate this scrumptious burnt sugary result you've got here--it's much like a crustless brazilian banoffee pie!

Ms.Nožisková said...

oh YES to the outfits!

tori said...

WOAH- well, moving takes energy, so I think that if anything could help fuel it, this could. When we packed up our pantry in the Sydney-London move I found some seriously curious things in the back. Can't wait to see what else is in store for the lingerers.

joanna said...

DUDE. SHAWN JOHNSON.

Stephanie said...

OK, so what is up with milk products making such a stuck-on mess that hardly responds to my go-to bad dishes solution (soaking. and more soaking.)? This is also not helped in my household by the fact that at least once a week, I make something with milk that boils over while I'm doing something else . . . However, I must say that this banana pudding looks like it's worth the risk.

Amelia Morris said...

hahahhaaa, Joanna, you feel my pain, right??!

Amelia Morris said...

Would love to see your savory version with or without the bordens condensed milk!

Rachel said...

this sounds like awesome encased in awesome. must try! good luck on the move - we're doing it too! (in town this time, as opposed to interstate... phew.)

Heather Taylor said...

YUMMERZ

Megan Taylor said...

I mean, I eat that everyday ;)

xo

pop-up blogspot said...

Hi Amelia, when I was in LA in April I came into Heath Ceramics to see you because I really love your blog, but just my luck you were in Paris! You sent my Mum a message because the lady who served us said we had been in to see you ... Anyway, I have just put a posting on my blog of my attempt of your attempt at sombremesa de banana com queijo, hope you like it...
http://pop-upblogspot.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/fathers-day-retrospective-aka-too-busy.html

love Ella UK xxx http://pop-upblogspot.blogspot.co.uk/ xxx
p.s. in Heath I bought the absolutely FABULOUS and v.funny travel journal, I really enjoy it and can't wait to fill it in next time I'm in the USA and hopefully meeting you will be somewhere in it!...
p.p.s my Dad loved the pud and we did too!

Amelia Morris said...

Hi Ella and thank you!!! So sorry I missed you while you were in the states! But glad you got a sweet travel journal while at Heath. Going to check out your post now!! xo

JanS said...

fyi - I grew up in Brazil, so immediately spotted a typo. Dessert = sobremesa (no extra 'm'). Check it out. You're welcome.

(got here via Mighty Girl)