Southern Banana Pudding vs Turkish Profiteroles

Both desserts lean on a stovetop vanilla custard, but they put it to work in very different ways. The Southern banana pudding is a soft, spoonable layered dish: a flour-and-yolk custard enriched with butter is poured over vanilla wafers and sliced banana, then crowned with a golden baked meringue made from the reserved egg whites, or with whipped cream instead. Turkish profiteroles build contrast, with butter and whole eggs forming puffed, golden choux shells filled with a cornstarch-thickened pastry cream lightened with whipped cream, all drizzled with a warm cocoa sauce.