These mini individual servings of banana cream tart feature a sweet tart shell lined with melted chocolate. They are filled with vanilla pastry cream, banana slices, and a drizzle of caramel. It is topped with whipped cream and garnished with dark chocolate shavings.
When I lived in Napa, my boyfriend (now husband) and I would drive out to San Francisco once a month to order banana cream pies from Tartine Bakery. It was something I looked forward to all month. I didn’t care about the long drive, 30 minutes it would take us to find street parking, or the line that wrapped outside the bakery. I just wanted that pie.
Luckily, Tartine now has opened locations all over the greater Los Angeles area. And even better, I have since learned how to make the famous banana pie from scratch!
Components and Ingredients
- baked sweet dough tart shells
- melted chocolate
- caramel sauce
- chilled vanilla pastry cream
- sliced ripe bananas
- whipped cream
- dark chocolate shaving
The buttery tart shell holds up really well. It doesn’t get soggy. The layer of decadent dark chocolate provides a layer of protection between the tart shell and the sweet moist pastry cream.
One of my favorite parts of this tart is the little caramel scattered throughout the pie. The caramel doesn’t steal the show, but helps to complement the other sweet components.
Serving Suggestions
These banana tarts are best enjoyed the same day they are assembled. The moisture from the pastry cream will eventually soften the crunchy tart shell.
Serve the tarts chilled or at room temperature. They taste wonderful paired with a glass of milk, coffee, or tea.
However, you may make the various components ahead of time and assemble right before serving.
MAKE AHEAD NOTES:
- Tart dough: Chill dough in the fridge up for up to 2 days before baking. After baking, store at room temperature in an airtight container away from heat or direct sunlight for up to three days.
- Pastry cream: This can be made a day in advance. Store in the fridge overnight with plastic wrap directly touching the cream to prevent “elephant skin.” Don’t prepare more than two days in advance because the cornstarch will eventually cause the cream to separate.
- Caramel sauce: This keeps well in the fridge in a covered container for up to a week. Reheat if necessary.
- Whipped cream: Store in a covered container in the fridge for up to three days.
Related Recipes
Banana Cream Tarts
Ingredients
Sweet Tart Dough
- ½ cup unsalted butter, (113 g) , room temp
- ½ cup granulated sugar, (100 g)
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 large egg,, room temp
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, (228 g)
Pastry Cream
- 2 cups whole milk, (454 g)
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar, (100 g)
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch, (23 g)
- 2 large eggs
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, (57 g)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla paste, or pure vanilla extract or half a vanilla bean
Caramel Sauce
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar, (67 g)
- 3 Tablespoon water
- 4 Tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, (57 g)
- ⅓ cup heavy cream, (76 g)
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream, cold
- 2 ½ Tablespoons granulated sugar
Other Components
- ½ cup dark chocolate*, (85 g) roughly chopped and melted
- 3 ripe medium bananas, cut into ½-inch slices
- chocolate shavings, , to garnish
Instructions
Sweet Tart Dough
- Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and salt until smooth. Add egg and mix until combined.
- Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in all the flour and mix on low until just incorporated.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two parts and shape into a disk around ½-inch thick. Wrap well in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to ⅛-inch thick. Cut out a circle a little bigger than the tart mold, about 6 ½ inches in diameter. Carefully transfer circle to the tart mold, pressing it gently into place. Trim the dough level with the tart mold by rolling the pin over the edges.
- Dock the bottom of the tart shell with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes. The tart shell should be golden brown. Let cool completely on wire racks.
Pastry Cream
- Pour the milk into a large saucepan. Add salt and 3 tablespoons of the sugar. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Stirring occasionally to make sure the milk does not burn along the sides or bottom of the pan.
- Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk together remaining sugar and cornstarch. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth.
- When the milk has boiled, slowly add a little bit of the milk into the egg mixture. Whisk constantly to distribute the heat. Continue to pour more milk until a couple tablespoons are left in the saucepan. Then pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan.
- Whisk constantly over medium heat until the custard has thickened. To cook the cornstarch out, heat the custard until it boils. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter one tablespoons at a time. Whisk until smooth. Add the vanilla paste and whisk until combined.
- Pour pastry cream into a plastic wrapped sheet pan. Spread evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 10-15 minutes until pastry cream has cooled to room temperature.
- Remove from freezer and continue to cool in refrigerator until ready to use.
Caramel Sauce
- In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water. Heat over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Continue to heat until sugar mixture is lightly golden brown in color. Make sure not to distribute sugar mixture while it is heating up. Do not whisk or stir the pot, otherwise you will get a lumpy caramel.
- Remove from heat and add butter. Whisk until butter dissolves. Add heavy cream. Be careful, the mixture will bubble and rise as soon as you add the cream. Whisk until smooth. Let cool until ready to use.
Whipped Cream
- Pour heavy cream into a mixing bowl and whip with a whisk by hand or in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk until slightly thick and then add sugar. Continue to whip until it holds medium-firm peaks. Keep chilled until ready to use.
Assembly
- Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate in each baked tart shell. Let sit at room temperature for a couple minutes until chocolate sets. Or, place in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to speed up the process.
- Once chocolate has set, drizzle a little bit of caramel on top. Spoon enough pastry cream to fill the tart shell. Spread into an even layer. Arranged sliced bananas on top of pastry cream. If desired, drizzle caramel on top of bananas.
- Spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top of bananas. Finish with dark chocolate shavings. Keep tart chilled until ready to serve.
Notes
- Can be made into one large 9-inch tart
- Best served the day tart is assembled.
- Pastry cream may be made up to a day in advance. Keep covered in the fridge.
- Tart shell may be baked and held up to three days in advance. Store in a covered container at room temperature.
- Feel free to sub in your favorite store bought caramel sauce
- Recommend using 60-70% dark chocolate from Callebaut, Valrhona, and Lindt
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
I had many ripe bananas so I was looking for recipes to help me use them up. I came across this recipe and decided to try it because I’ve tried the delicious banana cream tarts from Tartine before. I ended up using an oatmeal pie crust recipe for the crust instead which I highly recommend anyone else to try as well! The tarts came out great, way more successful than other recipes I’ve tried making. Next time, I’ll try this recipe using store bought puff pastry for the crust! Thank you for the super helpful recipe, I’m excited to try your banana crumb cake recipe next since I still have way too many bananas leftover!!
What dark chocolate do you recommend?
I recommend at least 60% dark chocolate. I usually use one between 65-70%. My favorite chocolate brands are Callebaut, Valrhona, and Lindt.
Can I make half of this recipe? ONly two of us and even 2 apiece would be a big splurge
It’s a bit difficult to cut this recipe in half. How about sharing the extra with friends or neighbors :)
Hi! Did you butter/four the pan to make the tart shells?
Hi Angela, no I did not butter or flour the tart shells pans. They have removeable bottoms making it really easy to unmold the tarts.
I’ve never baked anything in my entire life (unless you count putting cookie dough in the oven) and your instructions made it so easy! Everything turned out perfectly! Now I don’t have to wait in line for hours at Tartine when I have a banana cream tart craving :) thanks so much for posting!
Thank you so much Rebecca! In my opinion, putting cookie dough in the oven totally counts as baking :)
I love your blog and have given you the Liebster Blog award :) You can find it here…http://www.seaweedandsassafras.com/2012/02/liebster-blog-award.html
Thank you, Abby! I’ve linked you back in my new post :)
HI, can you tell me how much milk is in the pastry cream? It says 16 oz cups, but I don’t know what that means! I really want to make this!!
Hi! 2 cups of whole milk in the pastry cream. 4 Tbsp of butter should be 2 oz. Hope that helps :) Happy baking!
this looks great…few questions:1) could this be made into 1 large tart rather than 5 individual? 2) could you make this a day in advance? or would the bananas turn brown?
Yes, you can make it into one large tart. You’ll have to adjust the baking time a little bit. And yes, you can make this tart a day in advance. As long as you keep it chilled in the fridge, the bananas shouldn’t get too brown.