Easy Strawberry Custard Tart

This Easy Strawberry Custard Tart uses vanilla pudding as a stand in for traditional custard.

The bottom crust is quite sturdy and almost shortbread cookie-like. I added a couple of tablespoons of almond liqueur to jazz it up a bit. You can just follow the instant pudding instructions to keep it kid-friendly.

Fresh strawberries are starting to make a comeback in my grocery store. I have been taking advantage of them to add a spring-like feel to our meals!

If you are a strawberry fan you might also like this Strawberry Cheesecake recipe.

Back to the Tart....I loved the crunchiness of the tart base here but if you want to keep it really easy, you could also use a premade Graham crumb pie crust. You won't need all the filling to fill it so you can have a side pudding.

Actually - even if you use the tart base be careful not to overfill it with the pudding. I did use all the pudding and it was just even with the top of the crust. When I sunk the strawberry slices it spilled over the crust a bit as you can see in the photos. Not a disaster, but next time I will keep back a few tablespoons of the filling. I also used the liqueur version so some my filling was a bit runnier than a straight pudding filling would be.

All in all it was delicious so we were happy to forgive any quirks!

Easy Strawberry Custard Tart

Vanilla pudding stands in for custard to make this simple strawberry tart.

Author: Carolyn Hetke

If you tried this, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know it went in the 📝 comments below!

5 from 2 votes

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

SaveSaved!

Print Pin Facebook

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 25 minutes mins

Chilling Time: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 2 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Servings: 8 servings

Equipment

• ▢
  11" tart pan

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• ▢ ½ tsp salt
• ▢ ⅓ cup icing sugar
• ▢ ⅔ cup unsalted butter cold, cut into cubes
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 3-4 Tbsps cold water

Custard

• ▢ 1 4 oz instant vanilla pudding
• ▢ 2 cups milk or per package instructions

Topping

• ▢ 1 ½ lbs fresh strawberries hulled and halved vertically
• ▢ 3 Tbsps icing sugar

Instructions

• Pulse flour, salt and icing sugar in food processor until well mixed. Add butter and pulse until mixture looks like coarse meal. Add the vanilla and then the ice water, 1 Tbsps at a time pulsing until the dough gathers starts to clump together.
• Turn dough mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Gather the dough and press into a ball. Wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate one hour or up to overnight. (If refrigerated more than an hour allow 30 minutes for dough to come to room temperature.)
• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Roll the dough out to a 12 inch circle. Transfer dough to 11" tart pan with removable bottom. Press into the pan and trim the edge flat with the rim. Prick the pastry bottom randomly with a fork. Freeze for 10 minutes to firm up dough. Bake 20-25 minutes until crust is golden.
• Cool crust completely.
• Make pudding according to package instructions. Allow pudding to set in a bowl until thickly pourable. About minutes. Pour into the crust and refrigerate. See Note 1 below for variation.
• Wide end down, tuck strawberry halves into the pudding in concentric circles.
• Dust top with remaining 3 Tbsps of icing sugar just before serving.

Notes

Note 1:  Substitute 2 Tbsps of the liquid called for in the pudding with liqueur of choice for ex.  Grand Marnier, Amaretto.  The pudding will be a bit softer. 

Nutrition

Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 176mg | Potassium: 241mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 582IU | Vitamin C: 50mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @thewineloverski or tag #thewineloverski!