Banana Pudding

I had the wonderful pleasure of browsing through "Hallelujah! The Welcome Table" by Maya Angelou and it was fantastic!! There is one recipe here for every year of her life. Another one of her many talents; cooking. Oprah Winfrey, who is like a daughter to her, convinced her to write this cookbook. This is Oprah's "absolute, all-time favorite dessert of Maya's." Am posting this as per request. Didn't include cooling or chilling times; five hours and up.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Yields: 1 banana pudding

Ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 1  tablespoon sugar
• 1⁄3 cup cornstarch
• 1  pinch salt
• 3  cups milk
• 8  eggs, separated
• 3  tablespoons butter
• 1  tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 3  cups  vanilla wafers
• 4  ripe bananas, thinly sliced
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In a large saucepan, combine 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch and salt; stir until blended.
3. Mix in milk.
4. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened and boiling. Boil 1 minute, then remove from heat.
5. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks, then whisk in about 1/2 cup of hot custard until blended.
6. Pour yolk mixture back into saucepan of custard; cook over medium heat, stirring 2 minutes. Stir in butter and vanilla until blended.
7. Place vanilla wafers on bottom of a shallow 2 quart casserole dish.
8. Top with layers of banana slices and custard. Repeat layering, ending with custard.
9. In a large mixing bowl, best egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar at low speed until frothy.
10. Add cream of tartar; increase speed to medium and gradually beat in remaining sugar.
11. Beat until egg whites hold stiff peaks.
12. Spoon meringue over hot custard immediately, making sure that meringue touches baking dish on all sides. (This prevents it from shrinking).
13. Transfer to oven and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
14. Remove pudding from oven and cool one hour.
15. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before.
16. Enjoy!