Messina-style Bananas: Original — a Sicilian dessert consisting of a shell of soft choux pastry filled with whipped cream, fresh bananas and pistachio crumble typical of the tradition.
Learn how to prepare the Messina-style bananas, the typical sweet of Sicilian tradition.
An irresistible combination of whipped cream, fresh bananas and crunchy pistachio crumble that will win over every palate.
This is not the ordinary “banane” Messina-style you would find in any pastry shop.
This version preserves a family secret: my grandmother Maria created it this way, making it unique.
Unlike classic variants, her choux pastry is formed generously, specifically designed to hold a whole banana inside.
It is a tribute to the generosity of traditional home cooking, where the dessert was not just a small pastry but a true triumph of cream, pistachio and fruit.
Biting into one of these bananas means tasting a piece of my history and the creativity of a woman who knew how to turn simple ingredients into an unforgettable masterpiece.
The origin of the name
Despite the misleading name, Messina “bananas” are not a fruit but a staple of local pastry.
The name comes solely from the elongated, slightly curved shape given to the choux pastry before baking, designed to best accommodate the cream and fruit filling.
A postwar symbol
This dessert spread widely in the postwar years, becoming the symbol of Sunday in Messina.
Along the coasts of the Strait of Messina, among many ships, there were cargo vessels called banana boats.
They transported bananas from Africa to Mediterranean countries, and often many Sicilian sailors would throw whole bunches overboard — even entire banana stems — so local fishermen from Ganzirri and Torre Farolo would collect them, rinse them and keep them in the dark to ripen away from light.
From those events these delicious recipes were born.
Together with the cannoli and the cream puffs, the “banana” can never be missing from the tray of fresh pastries that Messina families bring to the table for festive lunches.
A touch of the territory
What sets the Messina version apart from a common fruit cream puff is the use of pistachio crumble.
In Sicily, pistachio is not just decoration but the element that balances the sweetness of the cream with a toasted, savory note typical of the slopes of Etna.
A bite that contains all the softness of the Strait!”
Thought for you:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Cooking time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 415.50 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 36.93 (g) of which sugars 20.93 (g)
- Proteins 7.24 (g)
- Fat 27.50 (g) of which saturated 4.31 (g)of which unsaturated 8.89 (g)
- Fibers 4.43 (g)
- Sodium 76.50 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients — Messina-style Bananas: Original Sicilian Recipe
Let’s go grocery shopping
- 3 eggs
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup water
- 7/8 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 8 bananas (small or 4 medium)
- 1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- Half packet vanillin (vanilla flavoring)
- to taste pistachio crumble
Messina-style Bananas: Original Sicilian Recipe
Tools
What we need to prepare
- 1 Pot
- 1 Piping bag with large star tip
- 2 Baking sheets
- 1 Oven
Steps — Messina-style Bananas: Original Sicilian Recipe
Let’s go to the kitchen
These are made with choux pastry: Pour the water into a fairly large pot, add the butter in pieces and a pinch of salt.
Turn the heat to low and stir with a wooden spoon until the butter has completely melted.
As soon as the mixture comes back to a boil, sprinkle the flour in gradually, very slowly, continuing to stir more and more vigorously.
Continue until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pot.
At this point, turn off the heat.
When the mixture has cooled, add the eggs to the dough one at a time, stirring each time with a wooden spoon.
Continue until the mixture is quite smooth and creamy.
Place the dough into a piping bag fitted with a star tip about 15/20 mm wide (about 5/8–3/4 inch).
Preheat the oven to 338°F (convection) or 356°F (conventional) with the door slightly open using a dish towel or a small ball of aluminum foil.
Using the piping bag, form a double-arched strip of dough — two strips first and then a third one on top.
The banana you create should be about 4 3/4 inches long, or roughly the length of one banana (or half, depending on whether your bananas are medium or large).
After shaping the choux bananas, bake them for about 20–25 minutes.
When nicely golden, remove them immediately from the oven and allow them to cool.
If using an air fryer: place the basket on parchment paper and cook in two stages: first at 356°F for 10 minutes, then at 392°F for another 10 minutes.
When you have finished baking all of them and they have cooled, very gently cut them like small sandwich rolls.Prepare the cream: it should be chilled in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before whipping.
Add the sugar and the vanillin and whip with electric beaters.
Fill a piping bag with the whipped cream.
Assemble: first pipe a layer of cream into the hollowed choux, sprinkle a little pistachio crumble, then place the whole banana (or half, depending on its size). Add another layer of cream and close with the other half of the shell.
Dust with powdered sugar and pistachio crumble. Here they are ready:
Messina-style Bananas: Original Sicilian Recipe.
Storage and tips
Messina-style Bananas: Original Sicilian Recipe.
Store the Messina-style Bananas in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.
Because this is a dessert made with fresh cream and fruit, the choux pastry tends to become moist and the bananas may darken if stored for too long.My grandmother’s secret: a whole heart of sweetness.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Messina-style Bananas: Original Sicilian Recipe
Messina-style Bananas: Original Sicilian Recipe
