True Magnolia Bakery insiders are deeply loyal to the banana pudding. Since opening our first shop in 1996, this pudding has been our not-so-well-kept secret. We actually sell more than a million containers of it every year! Our banana pudding is so beloved that we created a special food holiday in its honor. Since 2014, we’ve been celebrating National Banana Pudding Day on the last Thursday of August.
Until recently, we offered only the classic version—layers of vanilla pudding, vanilla wafers, and bananas. A couple of years ago, we began adding new flavors we love. The roster now includes more than a dozen versions that we rotate in our stores, including chocolate hazelnut, salted caramel, pumpkin-gingersnap, peanut butter, and java chip. We’ve even created special flavors for our stores around the world, such as choc-nut in the Philippines and lotus in the Middle East.
In this chapter, you’ll find our recipe for the classic banana pudding along with some of our most popular specialty flavors. They all look beautiful in a large trifle bowl or you can create individual portions in small glass jars or mini trifle bowls. Individual portions are more time-consuming, but make a lovely presentation for a dinner party. Banana pudding is even presentable in a casserole dish to be scooped tableside. The number of servings depends on the size of your portions. If this is the only dessert offered, it may serve 8 people. If it’s part of a dessert buffet, it could serve up to 16 people.