Birthday Extravaganza Vacation Weekend/Banana Strata

As I've shared in another post in recent times, I have the most wonderful husband I [n]ever could've imagined!!! This past weekend he took off work for several days and gave me time to do whatever I wanted! SO SWEET!!! Short of flying to Tahiti for the weekend, I got to do most everything I wanted =)  I used a gift certificate for a massage, then I got my hair cut and eyebrows waxed (thank-you, btw, to the dear lady who pulled off half my eyelid in the process...!)  I got time to cook & blog. I didn't change but a couple of diapers =)  I didn't get up during the night once!!!!!!!!! And, my husband took me out for a lovely, wonderful time at a near-by Asian restaurant where we enjoyed Sushi and a very interesting Birthday Song with a flaming flower that played music - What a night! During the vacation, I also got to go to coffee with a friend, who donned my doorstep later in the day with a basket full of kitchen gadgets and goodies (what a friend!!), took an art class, and my family went to the local art museum on Free Day =)  Great way to turn 30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank-you, friends and family for sending me wonderful cards and gifts (especially "30", Debby)! And thank-you, Husband, for making my dreaded 30th the best ...um EVER!!!!!!!

Ok, so we were invited to some friends' house on Sunday night, so I tried to make a recipe I found in our newspaper for a dessert called something like "Boston No-Bake Cake"... The custard part was the hardest, and I really thought it had bombed, but with the help of a couple of bananas, I redeemed it! It turned out fabulously!!! This "Boston No-Bake Cake" is a layered dessert, comprised of graham crackers, a vanilla-y custard, bananas, and chocolate frosting, that needs at least 24 hours in the fridge to become what you really want it to be. I've renamed it "Banana Strata". Think of it as an edible geology lesson ...or a chocolate-ensconced banana pudding lasagna. Either way, read on:

WHAT YOU NEED:

For the Custard:
5 TBSP. unsalted butter + pinch of sea salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups half & half
2 tsp. vanilla
3 TBSP. arrowroot starch
3 eggs + 3 egg yolks
2 medium not-ripe-but-not-too-green bananas

For the Frosting:
3 TBSP. unsalted butter + pinch sea salt

1/4 cup Penzey's cocoa powder (or Ghirardelli)

2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup heavy whipping cream

16 oz. Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the Strata:

1 package graham crackers (3 sleeves)

About 1/3 reserved chocolate frosting

1 medium not-ripe-but-not-too-green banana =)

HOW TO:

For the Custard:
Mix room-temperature butter + salt with sugar in sauce pan, then turn heat on to medium (low-ish) and heat until melted.
Add half & half and heat, stirring continually, until a little thicker and a heavenly cream smell! (Do not let it boil, and take it off heat if it starts to smell even a little burnt!)
Add vanilla, take off heat.
Ladle one cup of hot mixture into blender with starch. Blend until smooth. Add back to sauce pan, and put back on heat.
In separate bowl, slightly beat 3 eggs and 3 egg yolks together. Add to cream mixture in sauce pan.
Cook and whisk about 5 minutes, continually scraping sides and bottom of pan.
Put whole mixture in blender, add both bananas, and blend until very smooth.
(At this point you could call is banana pudding and be done!!)

For the Frosting:
Slowly melt butter + pinch of salt over low heat.
Add cocoa powder and vanilla (I think they mix in better at this stage)
Pour in cream. Heat just until everything is mixed well and cream is warm.
Add chocolate chips, and stir continually. Heat until thoroughly melted.
*Note: You need to use this chocolate while it's still melty... So ándale with the Strata already!!

For the Strata:
For each of the first two layers in the strata, place contents of one sleeve of graham crackers in a casserole dish*, cover with custard, and top with a few slices of banana and half of the reserved chocolate frosting. (This amount of frosting isn't much, so know that it doesn't need to cover the layer completely - just zigzag it on.)
For the third final layer, it is the same except you are using the entirety of the chocolate frosting. It looks like an awful lot, but it will settle in =)
*Nonmetallic -- it will be sitting in the fridge for 24 hours, remember!

SERVES: 12

COST: $11-12, so just around $1/each.