Name: Luscious Banana Cream Pudding
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Ingredients: 4-5 ripe bananas; 1 cup sugar; 1 cup half-and-half; 1 cup 2% milk; 2 eggs; 2 Tbsp cornstarch; 1 tsp vanilla; pinch of salt; Shortbread cookies or Nilla Wafers (your choice); Whipping cream

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The recipe for Banana pudding is actually a vanilla custard with bananas and cookies. It is a rich, luscious, dessert. The novel centers around a delightful character who show you can return home, especially after a broken heart.

Jules is an excellent baker who has a loving mom, a cheating husband, and Thomas, a caring high school friend. Will Thomas become something more than a friend? I have a feeling this storyline has many bumps, twits, and turns before a conclusion is reached. A list of unique characters who have come to Ashland for the reality production helps to make for an entertaining novel.

A Batter of Life and Death by Ellie Alexander

Luscious Banana Cream Pudding

from a cozy mystery

A Batter of Life and Death

by Ellie Alexander

Book Outline and Tone:

In book 2 of this series Jules is starting to feel more at home. She and her mom are working as a team, she is personalizing her apartment, and connecting with the staff at Torte on a deeper level. But she is still not sure that her home town of Ashland, OR is where she should be. The conflict between getting comfortable and missing her husband, Carlos, keeps popping up. At the same time, her high school ex-boyfriend keeps popping up in her mind too.

As if the will she or won’t she stay in Ashland is not enough for her, she agrees to host and participate in a baking contest reality show, Take the Cake, for the Pastry Channel. Since the Oregon Shakespeare is finished for the season, the influx of the production company should be good for everyone. Not to mention the grand prize of $25,000, which could help her mom get a new oven for their family bakery, Torte.

Since this is a cozy mystery, there must be a mystery to solve in addition to Jules’s personal struggles. Sure enough a contestant is found dead and Jules just can’t help but slyly investigate.

The Best Quote:

On our way backstage, Lance whispered, “What else have you learned? Any new delightful suspects in our little investigation?”

“Not really. I know for sure that Linda lied about being at the theater last night. She called Othello charming.”

Lance threw his hand to his heart. “Say it isn’t so. If I produced a charming Othello I should be banned from the company for life.”

Point of View:

The novel is told in first person from Jules’s point of view.

The Author: Ellie Alexander

Like the setting of her Bakeshop Mysteries series, author Ellie Alexander is a native of the Pacific Northwest. On her website she describes herself as a voracious storyteller and also enjoys testing pastry recipes. These passions are clearly evident with the engaging story and fabulous recipes at the end of the novel. Alexander writes several series in addition to the Bakeshop Mysteries. She has a Rom-Com series, Sloan Krause Mystery series set in a Bavarian village in Leavenworth, Washington, The Secret Bookcase series and more other books. Readers can sign up for her newsletter on the website. There are several ways to follow her and get further inspiration. She is active on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Pinterest. Her love for storytelling seems to be what also inspired her to Author Academy that has courses, webinars, and coaching. She has several videos on Youtube on how to write a novel.

What is not to like?:

The way Jules describes her life as a chef on a cruise ship, I would love more back stories and adventures about that time in her life.

The verdict:

This novel series is an easy one to recommend. The characters are relatable and those who are not, are humorous. The story perfectly intertwines Jules’s personal struggles and the murder mystery. This series is a winner!

Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).

Luscious Banana Cream Pudding

Assemble the Ingredients

Beat eggs and sugar together.

In a saucepan add milk, half-and-half, vanilla,

salt, and cornstarch.

Stir in eggs and sugar and whisk together.

Bring to a gentle rolling boil. Stir continually until thickened (approximately 5 minutes). Remove to move from heat and allow to cool.

Slice bananas.

At this point even though the recipe does not call for it, I strongly recommend taking half the bananas and stirring them into the pudding. This recipe does not use any banana extract so the flavor is genuine, albeit a mild banana flavor. Adding bananas while the pudding sets helped to add more banana flavor to the pudding itself.

Place the vanilla cookies in a sealed bag and crush them.

Layer in a clear glass bowl (or individual parfait dishes or even pretty tea cups) starting with cookies, bananas, pudding. Repeat. Top with whipped cream.