The timing of this recipe was perfect. I needed a little something to bring to a viewing get-together for the series finale of "Lost" and the tropical ingredients seemed perfect. I come from a long line of ice cream eaters, so it seemed even more perfect.
Of course, just like in "Lost" there was a complication (no Smoke Monster, luckily). I love bananas in bread, on sandwiches with peanut butter, in my cereal. But I simply do not like frozen bananas. Not one bit. It may go back to a "traumatic dessert" experience when I was a kid. My Mom would often take me to the Zoo (it's handy to have a "world famous" Zoo in one's backyard. Even more handy for my Mom since kids under 16 had free admission back then). I was fairly young and saw the advertisements for chocolate covered frozen bananas. They looked delicious! After an afternoon of whining, my Mom finally caved in. I took one bite, and BLECH! I don't know what my small child self thought it would taste like, but I was having none of it. My Mom couldn't have been less pleased! Even then stuff at the Zoo cost a lot of money, so she couldn't have been happy about this tyke turning up her whiny nose at the frozen banana. I distinctly remember her getting very quiet, and not wanting to eat the rest of mine.
Haven't had a chocolate covered frozen banana since.
Because of my aversion I opted to not have any bananas on the bottom of the pie and only mixed one banana into the ice cream. Even so I thought the banana flavor was too much. If I were to make it again, I'd just pick a really yummy flavor, or make one, and have it and the crust.
Because that crust was oh-so-good! Definitely the star of the dessert. A little difficult to get out of my brand-new Giada Pie Pan from Target, but once properly defrosted, absolutely the best thing about this pie!
I thought it needed a little something on top, so I added a bit of whipped cream. That did the trick!
If I needed a pretty easy dessert to take somewhere, I would definitely make this again, with the changes listed above. Or I might just make the crust and eat it on its own (only kind of kidding about that idea). Either way, thanks to Spike at spike.bakes for choosing this recipe (it all made sense once I learned Spike is from Massachusetts. One of my most favorite things about New England - an ice cream stand on every corner, and they all seem to have a line of people - day or night, no matter the weather).
PS - Any "Lost" fans out there? What did you think of the finale?? I LOVED it. Cried like a baby at the end, mind you, and have felt like I've had a "Lost" hangover ever since, but loved it!
