Congratulations Pie

This weekend one of my good friends is visiting.  She recently got engaged, so I wanted make her and her fiance a special treat.  Her fiancee doesn't like chocolate or frosting.  When I come up with a dessert recipe my first inclination is to make something with both chocolate and frosting so I had to put my thinking cap on to come up with something they both would enjoy.  This is what I came up with:

Congratulations Pie

3 cups citrus pudding (recipe below)
2 small, ripe bananas, sliced
1 cup sliced strawberries, divided
12 individual graham cracker crusts ( just buy these, it will make your life easier)

Place 1 heaping tablespoon of pudding in the bottom of each crust.  Place a couple banana slices on top, then a few strawberry slices, making sure you save 12 slices.  Spoon remaining pudding on top until the fruit is completely covered.  Place 1 sliced strawberry on top of each pie.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap so the pudding doesn't form a skin.

If you happen to have sweetened whipped cream on hand spread some on top of the pudding before adding the last strawberry, then you don't have to worry about the skin forming.  That's what I would have done but, alas, I had no whipping cream.

Citrus Pudding

This recipe is adapted from "My Favorite Lemon Pudding" by Lori Longbotham on foodnetwork.com

1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups milk (the more fat in the milk the better it will taste)
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a 2 quart sauce pan whisk together the cornstarch and sugar.  Slowly pour in the milk while whisking then add the egg yolks and zests.  Whisk until smooth.  Heat on medium whisking constantly until pudding becomes thick (just slightly thinner than normal pudding, it will firm up more after refrigeration) about 10 minutes.  Whisk in the juices, butter, and vanilla.  Cool to room temperature.