Honey Custard Oatmeal Cookie Crust

Grind oats in food processor until fine meal consistency. Combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla bean paste and mix until combined. Add dry ingredients half at a time and mix just until fully incorporated.

Roll dough very thin (1/4”) between parchment sheets. Refrigerate rolled-out dough for 2 hours. Cut into shapes and bake in preheated 375 degree oven until firm. Baking time will depend on the size of the cookies. Check for doneness after 12 minutes. You want these cookies to be very crunchy. The cookies are delicious on their own, but they make a great base for the honey custard recipe! Makes approximately 75 – 1 ½” cookies.

Chop strawberries in food processor until texture very fine. Place berries, sugar, agar agar and lemon juice in the bowl o a double boiler or bain marie. Let the bottom water come almost to a boil and then continue stirring mixture for 5 minutes being sure to scrape the sides and mix from the bottom. Pour onto parchment lined sheet pan (12” x 18”) and spread into a thin layer (1/8” thick).

Allow to set at room temperature or in the refrigerator. After it is set, cover with a layer of plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 325 with a water bath set-up. Beat eggs and yolks in a large
bowl. Place milk, cream, cornstarch and honey in a sauce pan. Scald milk and cream to almost boiling making sure that everything is mixed together and that honey is dissolved. Add salt to egg mixture and whisk while slowly adding the hot milk mixture, Add vanilla bean paste with the last amount of milk mixture. After all incorporated, strain before pouring into a 9” x 13” pan. Put pan into water bath and bake for approximately 30 minutes until center is just set. Allow to cool to room temp. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Using a cookie cutter or a pizza cutter, cut strawberry gelee into a complimentary shape of the cut cookie crust. Use the same cutter to cut out the set and refrigerated custard. Place the gelee on top of the cookie and top with the custard. It is really good to eat this way – but you can take it over the top by generously sprinkling the custard top with sugar and bruleeing it with a torch.