Take This Simple Extra Step To Prevent Brown Bananas In Your Banana Pudding

Despite being native to warmer regions of the globe, bananas are one of those fruits that seem to occupy grocery stores worldwide. They're nutritious, versatile, and have a flavor that's almost universally beloved by adults and children alike, serving as the inspiration for classic Southern desserts like bananas foster and your grandma's banana pudding with that irresistible secret ingredient. Of course, every banana lover also knows that these starchy, delicious fruits are also temperamental, turning brown at the slightest provocation.

While it's not unsafe to eat brown bananas (provided there are no obvious signs of spoilage like mold or seeping fluids), brown banana slices don't make for the most appealing (pun intended) presentation. Even if your bananas are at a perfect pale yellow stage of ripeness, they're still at risk of turning brown due to a chemical reaction between the enzymes in the banana and the air we breathe. Fortunately, it's fairly easy to halt this process in its tracks by using a very common citrus fruit to keep your bananas fresh and yellow.

Tossing your banana slices in a mixture of lemon juice and a little water (to keep the bananas from tasting citrusy) is an effective solution because the acid in the lemon deactivates the oxidizing enzymes. This is useful not only while assembling your banana pudding, but also after putting it away. While refrigeration also slows down enzymatic browning, the slices will eventually become discolored even when stored properly — a quick lemon juice bath during pudding prep helps prevent that.

After slicing the bananas for your pudding, place them in a bowl and drizzle the water and lemon juice over them, tossing with a spoon to coat everything evenly. At this point, they should be protected from browning for quite some time, giving you plenty of it to work on other parts of the dessert. However, there are a few tricks you can employ to help the lemon juice do its job more effectively and ensure a beautiful presentation for this nostalgic and delicious treat.

For instance, if you know you'll need to refrigerate leftover banana pudding for a few days, choosing very slightly underripe bananas can help them keep their color for longer. Bright yellow bananas with just the barest hint of green and firmness work especially well. You can also save the task of slicing your bananas for just before you're ready to put everything together, rather than allowing them to sit in a bowl while you get started on the other parts of the dessert. The less time they're exposed to the air, the better.

One final technique involves layering your banana pudding to protect the banana slices from browning. Though artfully arranging slices on the top of your pudding layers or directly against the inside of a trifle glass may look pretty at first, these slices are more prone to speedy discoloration. Instead, seal them off from direct air exposure by keeping them between the layers of pudding and under the whipped cream.