Mini Strawberry Tartlets with Lemon Rose Custard Cream

Need a last minute Valentine’s Day dessert? This was so fun to make! Also an awesome project that you can assemble with someone you love. I know I usually focus on nutrition, but this time I would rather just be in awe of how beautifully strawberry, lemon, and rose go together. The flavors are just amazing. Like melt-in-your-mouth and savor the moment amazing! It takes strawberries and cream to a whole new wow factor. I actually wasn’t totally convinced that I liked rose water in anything but baklava until I tried these mini strawberry tartlets with lemon rose custard cream. Now I’m sure that rose brightens up flavors you didn’t know were there. I love edible flowers! I would absolutely serve this with something fizzy. If you like rose-flavored desserts, you will be craving this every night. I tried to make a lower calorie crust when I made this, but after tasting this crust and comparing it to my lemon bars crust, I couldn’t do that to you! The lemon bar crust is already perfect!  

I’m not sure if all of you know how to open up a young coconut, but they are really really easy! You just need some leverage. I only suggest to make sure this gets done by someone who is not klutzy. Bad aim is bad when you have a knife.

How to open a coconut

1. Slice off the top of coconut and keep trimming down the top till you can see the top is bare.

2. Whack the coconut with the corner angle of your knife, or use a mallet to hammer it in if it makes you nervous.

3. Keep whacking or hammering in a circle until you can lift the center piece out.

4. Pour out the coconut water (I use this for smoothies)

5. Scoop out the coconut flesh with a spoon

6. Voila!

Instructions

1. Blend all of the crust ingredients together in a food processor or high-speed blender. If you can’t find mulberries, get them from Amazon here.

2. Press into 4-6 tartlet pans. Careful to press into the corners so you get a good shape. My tartlet pans are from William-Sonoma because I prefer metal, but if you are okay with non-stick these ones from Amazon have the easy removal insert and look positively perfect.

3. Put the tartlet pans in the freezer for 1-2 hours oruntil they are easily removed. Or just serve the tartlets in the pans 😉

4. While the tartlet pans are freezing (or if you are like me, I just made the tartlet crusts the day before 🙂 ), open up a coconut and puree the custard cream ingredients.

5. Once you are ready to serve, remove the tartlets from the freezer and fill each tartlet with about 3 spoonfuls of custard cream each.

6. Now time to assemble the strawberry flowers!

How to make strawberry flowers

1. Slice your strawberries into thin slices

2. If you want a guide, use a round cookie cutter or very small cup to create your outer strawberry layer. Make sure each strawberry petal overlaps. A cookie cutter really helped my flower stand up straighter and look fuller. The time I made it without it turned out a little bit flatter.

3. Keep working your way into the center until you have filled the flower. It should be around 3 complete circle layers + 1-2 petals in the middle

That’s it! Now go serve it to that special someone!

Mr. Right and I are doing our usual Valentine’s Day tradition. When we were “just friends” we watched the movie 300 together and drank chocolate martinis. A tradition that I love and cherish.

Do you have a tradition for Valentine’s Day?

Eat Clean, Eat Well,

Michaell

*I am an amazon affiliate and receive a small percentage if you buy any amazon links from my site. This money goes towards my food budget to make the recipes you see here. Every little bit helps! If you want to check out amazon, here’s a link to get there!