Southern Banana Pudding vs Éclair

Both desserts lean on sugar, butter, eggs and cream, yet put them to very different work. Southern Banana Pudding cooks milk, egg yolks, sugar and flour into a stovetop custard enriched with butter and vanilla, then layers it with vanilla wafers and sliced bananas under a baked meringue made from the whites, with whipped cream as an alternative topping. The éclair beats whole eggs and butter into a choux dough baked until puffed and firm, fills it with vanilla-scented whipped cream and finishes it with a dark chocolate glaze. One is soft, spoonable and fruity; the other pairs a firm, golden shell with airy cream and dark chocolate.