Home · Recipes · Desserts & Baking · Pies & Tarts Individual Banana Cream Tarts Author: Maryanne CabreraPublished: Jan 31, 2012Updated: Oct 5, 2023 View Recipe15 ReviewsThis post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy. These banana cream tarts are made with a sweet dough and filled with melted chocolate, vanilla pastry cream, banana slices and a drizzle of caramel sauce. It is topped with whipped cream and garnished with dark chocolate shavings. I did something really momentous this Sunday. I completed my first half marathon! Yes, I’m one step closer to taking on a full 26.2 mile marathon! To celebrate this big feat, I had to make myself something very special. Circa 2010 while my boyfriend and I lived in Napa, we would drive out to San Francisco once a month to get banana cream pies at 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. After I finished my half marathon, I was handed a banana and all I could think about was that pie once again. Banana nutrients: Bananas are crammed full of good stuff. Apparently, the vitamins and nutrients found in bananas aid in muscle recovery. That’s great for me! Potassium prevents muscle cramps. Vitamin C and manganese help build strong bones and aid in speeding up the muscle recovery process. That is exactly what I need after a 13.1 mile run. Plus, bananas are good for your digestion, as they contain about 16 percent of your daily requirements for fiber. Banana Cream Tarts Too bad the rest of the components of this amazing banana cream tart are not so good for you. Components: baked tart shellsmelted chocolatecaramel saucechilled vanilla pastry creamsliced ripe bananaswhipped creamdark 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. Since the pastry cream uses whole eggs, it is not as rich as traditional French pastry creams that only use egg yolks. I prefer this lighter pastry cream that is balanced out with whipped 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. Interested in other mini tarts? You might like one of these: peanut butter mousse tarts, blood orange Earl Grey tarts, or mini apple tarts. Banana Cream Tarts 5 from 1 vote Melted chocolate lined sweet tart shell filled layered with vanilla pastry cream sliced bananas, and fresh whipped cream. The banana cream tarts are garnished with a drizzle of caramel sauce and a sprinkling of dark chocolate shavings. Yield: eight 5-inch tarts Prep Time: 1 hour hourCook Time: 15 minutes minutesChill Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutesTotal Time: 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes Servings: 8 Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe IngredientsSweet 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 beanCaramel 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 sugarOther 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 DoughUsing 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 CreamPour 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 SauceIn 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 CreamPour 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.AssemblySpread 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. Ingredients: Feel free to sub in your favorite store bought caramel sauce Recommend using 60-70% dark chocolate from Callebaut, Valrhona, and Lindt NutritionCalories: 765kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 46g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 182mg | Sodium: 265mg | Potassium: 422mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 51g | Vitamin A: 1516IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 128mg | Iron: 3mg Author: Maryanne Cabrera Course: DessertCuisine: American Did you make this recipe?Show us on Instagram! Tag @littleepicurean and hashtag #littleepicurean.
deeeeeeena says: February 1, 2012 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? Reply
the little epicurean says: February 1, 2012 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.
Patti MacLeith says: February 1, 2012 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!! Reply
the little epicurean says: February 1, 2012 Hi! 2 cups of whole milk in the pastry cream. 4 Tbsp of butter should be 2 oz. Hope that helps :) Happy baking!
Abby says: February 2, 2012 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 Reply
Rebecca says: July 14, 2013 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! Reply
Maryanne says: July 14, 2013 Thank you so much Rebecca! In my opinion, putting cookie dough in the oven totally counts as baking :)
Maryanne Cabrera says: September 14, 2014 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.
Lovetobake says: October 31, 2018 Can I make half of this recipe? ONly two of us and even 2 apiece would be a big splurge Reply
Maryanne Cabrera says: November 1, 2018 It’s a bit difficult to cut this recipe in half. How about sharing the extra with friends or neighbors :)
Maryanne Cabrera says: December 20, 2019 I recommend at least 60% dark chocolate. I usually use one between 65-70%. My favorite chocolate brands are Callebaut, Valrhona, and Lindt.
Iris says: October 5, 2020 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!! Reply