Strawberry Custard Tart

Since strawberries are in season and we're heading into that time of year when dining al fresco with friends becomes the norm, I thought I'd throw together a little throw-together dessert for you.  Relatively quick, very easy, and light for those last minute dinner occasions.

Strawberry Custard Tart

Jell-O Cook & Serve Custard mix
2 6-pk Keebler Graham Ready Crust mini pie crusts
1 quart fresh strawberries
1 large sprig fresh mint, chopped
1 tbsp honey
whipped cream (Reddi-Whip or Cool Whip)

Prepare the custard according to box directions.  When you put the custard in the fridge to set, if you cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap, pressed onto the surface, it will prevent a skin from forming on it.  It'll take 10-15 minutes to prepare the custard and about 1 hour to set.

Once the custard is ready, hull and rough chop 6-7 large strawberries (or 9-10 smaller ones).

Put in a food processor or blender with the honey and chopped mint.  Blend until roughly smooth.

Fill the bottom of each tart crust with a spoonful of the strawberry puree.

Then spoon custard over the strawberry puree in the tart crust.  You don't want to fill it all the way to the top, but just to below the top of the crust.

Slice 24-26 strawberries and lay slices on top of the custard.  Each tart will take approximately 2 strawberries worth of slices to cover it.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and garnish with some small mint leaves.  Ready to serve.

NOTES

You could use ready-made vanilla pudding in lieu of custard because I know not everyone is as big a custard fan as I am.  You could also substitute chocolate pudding or chocolate custard for the vanilla.

FYI, these work best in tart form, would have to make some adjustments to make it work as a larger pie.  This is because the mini crusts comes in a holder so even though the strawberry puree and custard tend to be runny they won't run anywhere but in the small tart pie pan.

If you are using Reddi-Whip only put it on right before you serve because it doesn't hold up for very long.  If you are planning to pre-prep or travel with, I would recommend using Cool Whip instead.

Both the graham crust and whipped cream can be made from scratch, but it kind of defeats the purpose of assembling something (relatively) easy and quick. :)