Look out. I am officially embracing the over-the-top nature that is me. This started with a craving, which grew into a fledgling recipe idea, then morphed into the so-ridiculous-it's-amazing thing you see here. I present to you: Cereal Milk Tartlets.
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These Cereal Milk Tartlets have a funfetti blondie crust filled with Lucky Charms cereal milk pastry cream, and topped with homemade vanilla bean whipped cream. There's no other way to say it: THESE ARE TO DIE FOR. They're roll-your-eyes good. Definitely hide-them-from-the-kids good. (Apparently, they also inspire a lot of hypens.)
If you enjoy this recipe, check out the posts for my Sprinkle Cookies, Vanilla Bean Blondie Cheesecake, and Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls!
The first step to all this deliciousness is making the cereal milk pastry cream. You can really use whatever kind of cereal you prefer. I went with Lucky Charms because I was making these close to St. Patrick's Day.
That said, if you use a cereal with marshmallows, make sure to REMOVE THEM before making your cereal milk. I thought the marshmallows would make the milk a nice pink color...but it made it a little blue. Blue enough that the addition of egg yolks made the pastry cream a really putrid green that no one would want to eat!
You guys know that I can't get enough vanilla bean paste! As such, I used it in all three components of this dessert. <3 If you’d like to get some vanilla bean paste for yourself, you can find some [here]. Check recipe notes if you'd rather substitute with vanilla extract.
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While the pastry cream is chilling, go ahead with the crusts! I adapted the funfetti blondies from Mel's Kitchen Cafe to be tartlet crusts. Preparing the blondies is straightforward, but with one unexpected ingredient: dried milk powder. It's not a typical blondie ingredient, but the results it produces are so good! The texture and richness that it provides just can't be beat! Just make sure that you're using dried milk powder and NOT malted milk powder, which is a different animal. If you can't find dried milk powder, I use this brand [here].
I used six 4" tartlet pans with removable bottoms for these tartlets, like these [here]. You could opt to make one 9" tart with this same recipe, but you'd definitely need a longer bake time for the crust. Check out the recipe notes for some detail on baking in lighter vs. darker pans, too!
So there they are. This is what happens when I don't edit myself for the general public. I know the "that's way too sweet" crowd will not approve, but I'm definitely not among that group. Editing the recipe to something more standard would not have been NEARLY as much fun. And I remembered: fun is why I do this. 😀
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Funfetti blondie crust adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe (link here).
Cereal Milk Tartlets
Ingredients
Cereal Milk:
- 2 cups Lucky Charms cereal, marshmallows removed (see note)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
- pinch salt
Cereal Milk Pastry Cream:
- cereal milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (see note)
- pinch salt
- 6 egg yolks
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, diced and softened
Funfetti Blondie Crust:
- 6 tablespoon butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ cup dry milk powder (see note)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup rainbow sprinkles
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ tablespoon vanilla bean paste (see note)
Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream:
- 1½ cups heavy (whipping) cream, cold
- 3 tablespoon powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste (see note)
Garnish:
- Lucky Charms marshmallows, if desired
Instructions
For Cereal Milk:
- In a small bowl, combine cereal (WITH MARSHMALLOWS REMOVED; see note), milk, cream, and salt. Allow to set at room temperature for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
For Pastry Cream:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the cereal milk, vanilla bean paste (see note), and salt. In a small heatproof bowl, combine egg yolks, cornstarch, and sugar.
- Cook cereal milk mixture oven over medium heat until it reaches a gentle boil, stirring often.
- Using a measuring cup, gradually pour about one cup of the hot cereal milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. This step tempers the eggs. Pour the tempered egg mixture into the saucepan.
- Continue to cook pastry cream over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it just starts to boil. Mixture will thicken as it cooks.
- Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk the pastry cream until it cools slightly. Beat in the butter, whisking until incorporated.
- Pour the pastry cream into a medium heatproof bowl. Cover with plastic, pressing the wrap to the surface of the pastry cream to ensure it doesn't form a skin. Refrigerate until completely cooled.
For Blondie Crust:
- Preheat oven to 325° F (see note). Melt butter and let cool slightly. Grease six 4" tartlet pans (see note) and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, milk powder [see note], baking soda, salt, and sprinkles). Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix well.
- Add egg and vanilla bean paste (see note), and mix until light and creamy, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the dry ingredients and gently mix with a spatula or wooden spoon just until incorporated, taking care not to break the sprinkles.
- Divide the dough amongst the prepared tartlet pans. I used about 6 tablespoons of dough per tartlet, which was about 90 grams. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of each pan.
- Place the tartlet pans on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until blondies are set in the center and slightly golden on the edges.
- The crusts will fall a bit in the center as they cool, but I used a small measuring cup to press down the centers while they were still warm to ensure there would be room for filling. Let the crusts cool completely in the pans.
For whipped cream:
- Place cold heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean paste (see note) in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Start the mixer on low speed, and gradually increase the speed to high. Whip until the cream thickens and forms peaks.
Assembly:
- Divide the chilled pastry cream amongst the cooled blondie crusts, smoothing the tops. Top pastry cream with whipped cream. If desired, sprinkle with Lucky Charms marshmallows.Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is only an estimate.
Gail
Okay, so these are more involved than I usually make, but I LOVE lucky charms so I had to! Loved these so much!
Amee
Thank you, Gail! This recipe is a bit of a project, but the result is sooo worth it! <3
Kim
Making this for the second time today- the adults and the kids love this recipe! I’m using a mini tart pan and the recipe works great for 12 tartlets!
Amee
Yaaay! So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Kim, and thanks so much for your review!