Caramelized Banana Tart

1 9-inch baked pastry shell
1/4 c. cornstarch
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 c. milk
1 c. half and half
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
2 T. butter
2 t. vanilla extract
2 large bananas

In a saucepan, mix the cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add in the milks and stirring, cook over medium heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon as it thickens into a custard and comes to a boil. Cook for 1 minute boiling, take off heat. Stir a small amount of the hot custard into the beaten eggs in a small bowl and mix well. Then add this mixture back into the custard. Continue stairring and cook on heat for one more minute. Add the butter and vanilla, stir and take off heat completely to cool.

In the pastry shell, slice the bananas to cover the bottom, pour the custard over and chill for 3 hours.

Right before serving, sprinkle sugar over top of custard and use one of those gadgets that burns the sugar to make a hard crust. If you don't have that gadget, put the tart under the broiler for a few minutes till the sugar has turned brown and forms a crust. Watch closely so it does not burn. Let cool so that sugar hardens.If you want to make it from scratch:

Sweet Dough Tart Shell
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 egg
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour Caramelized Bananas
2 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 bananas, sliced 1/4-inch thick To make the tart shell: Combine the butter and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whip together. Add the egg and beat again until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the flour all at once, mixing by hand just until the mixture holds together. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 2 hours before rolling out for the tart shell.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness, using a small amount of flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface and rolling pin. Using plastic bags filled with rice, press one bag into the tart ring to weigh down the dough. Remove rice bags and place the tart shell on a baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until the shell is light golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. To make the bananas: In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, stir the water and brown sugar to blend. Add the banana slices and cook until slightly softened, 30 to 45 seconds.

To assemble the tart: Make a single layer of banana slices in the bottom of tart shell. Pour the filling over the banana slices to fill the shell. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. The follow the above instructions for the caramelized sugar over the custard.

To make the crème anglaise: In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and add the sugar. In a large skillet, mix the milk with the cream and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir in the egg yolk mixture and cook until the mixture coats the back of the spoon, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour this mixture into a bowl that is placed in a larger bowl filled with ice water to quickly chill the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the caramelized bananas slices.