Bananas for pudding?

The Nilla-wafer classic has a tasty tropical cousin

I learned to make banana pudding the same way a lot of people do: in my grandma’s kitchen, without a recipe, eyeballing the ingredients. We made it often, especially when it was too hot to turn on the oven. It was her go-to dessert to feed a crowd, especially for a Summerlin fish fry. She always made it early in the day, because it only gets better after chilling for hours.

I had one job. I was in charge of the Nilla wafers. I sorted through the box and picked out all the whole, perfectly round ones to line the edges of the pan. Any broken ones would be layered into the pudding, minus a few eaten by me. The crumbs at the bottom of the bag were never wasted. Those were sprinkled over the top at the end. To this day when I see a banana pudding with those same details, I know I’m in for a treat.