Method

• 1.
  Place 100g of the sugar and 250ml (1 cup) water in a saucepan over low heat. Scrape in vanilla seeds and add the bean too, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium and simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened. Pour into a bowl, discarding the bean; cover and set aside to cool completely.
• 2.
  Place milk in a separate saucepan. Scrape in seeds from remaining vanilla bean and add bean too. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat and set aside for 30 minutes to infuse.
• 3.
  Meanwhile, place egg yolks and remaining sugar in a bowl and beat until pale. Add flour and beat to combine. Use a slotted spoon to remove vanilla bean from milk and pour over the egg mixture. Return to the pan and cook over low heat for 3-4 minutes until thickened. Place pastry cream in a bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap and set aside to cool.
• 4.
  Roll out the block of puff pastry to an 18 x 30cm rectangle. Cut a strip 1cm wide from each of the 4 sides, moisten edges of the pastry rectangle, then stick the strips around the edges to form a border. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to chill.

• 5.
  Preheat oven to 220°C.
• 6.
  Fill pastry base with pastry cream, then line the bananas across the cream. Brush pastry edges with egg and sprinkle with the extra sugar. Bake for 10 minutes, then decrease oven temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 15 minutes. Dust with icing sugar, drizzle with the vanilla syrup and serve with cream.