Peppermint Crisp Tart
Peppermint crisp tart is one of the most beloved easy homestyle desserts in South Africa. It's basically just whipped cream, caramel, peppermint chocolate, and coconut shortbread. It's a dessert that carries a lot of nostalgia, and even if you've never tried it, I'm sure it will become one of your favorites.
Servings 8 people
Ingredients
For the caramel mousse:
- 500 grams heavy or whipping cream
- 385 grams caramel treat (dulce de leche)
- 6 grams salt
- 150 grams Peppermint Crisp chocolate - or Aero Mint, or Andes mints, chopped fine
For the layers:
- 200 grams Tennis biscuits - or Nice biscuits, or graham crackers)
Instructions
- Prepare the caramel. In a separate bowl, smooth out 385 g caramel treat with 6 g salt. The salt balances the sweetness — don't skip it.
- Whip the cream. Beat 500 g heavy cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form — the cream should stand upright when you lift the beaters. This takes 3 to 4 minutes. Under-whipped cream won't hold the layers.
- Temper the caramel. Add 2 tablespoons of the whipped cream to the caramel and stir it in fully until the mixture loosens and lightens in color. This step prevents streaky, deflated mousse — if you dump all the cream in at once, the dense caramel will deflate the whipped cream and leave you with grainy texture.
- Fold in the cream. Add the remaining whipped cream to the lightened caramel in three additions, folding gently but decisively with a silicone spatula after each. Work swiftly for even incorporation without overworking. When fully combined, you should have fluffy caramel mousse with no streaks.
- Add the chocolate. Freeze 150 g Peppermint Crisp (or substitute) for at least 30 minutes, then chop it fine — cold chocolate shatters cleanly instead of melting. Fold 100 g (two-thirds) of the chopped chocolate into the mousse. Reserve the remaining 50 g for the top.
- Start layering. Spread one-third of the mousse across the bottom of a 1.5 L (1.5 quart) dish.
- Add biscuits. Lay Tennis biscuits (or substitute) over the mousse in a single layer, breaking to fit. For a more homogeneous texture or if your biscuits are thick, crush them roughly and sprinkle an even layer instead of laying whole.
- Repeat layers. Add mousse, then biscuits, then mousse again — 3 to 4 layers total depending on dish shape. End on mousse. Level the mousse as best you can.
- Top with chocolate. Scatter the reserved 50 g chopped chocolate generously over the top.
- Chill overnight. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. The biscuits will soften slightly but should retain some texture — that's exactly what you want.
Video
Notes
- Caramel treat — buy the caramelized tin, not plain condensed milk — Look for Caramel Treat (South Africa), dulce de leche, Carnation Caramel, or Nestlé Top 'n' Fill, all sold pre-cooked. Plain sweetened condensed milk stays runny and will not set. To make your own, boil a sealed 397 g tin fully submerged for 3 hours, topping up the water as it evaporates, then cool and chill overnight before opening.
- Folding the cream in stages — the step most people get wrong — Whip the cream cold to stiff peaks so it holds under the weight of the caramel. Loosen the dense caramel with a spoonful or two of cream first, then fold the rest in gradually. Adding all the cream at once deflates it and leaves streaks of unmixed caramel instead of an even mousse.
- Freeze the Peppermint Crisp before chopping — Thirty minutes in the freezer stops it smearing while you chop, especially on a hot day. Chop small but leave a few chunks. No Peppermint Crisp where you are? Aero Mint (UK, Australia, New Zealand) or chopped Andes mints (US) get you close on flavor, though neither has the honeycomb crunch.
- Biscuits — whole or crushed, and what to swap in — Whole Tennis biscuits give clean, tiramisu-style layers. Crushed and scattered gives a softer, more uniform set. Thick substitutes should be crushed rather than laid whole, or they never soften fully. Subs: Nice biscuits (UK, Australia, New Zealand), graham crackers (US, though they lack the coconut), or homemade. For gluten-free, crush in a GF coconut biscuit.
- Dish and equipment — Any dish that holds 1.5 L (1.5 qt) works, whatever the shape. You need an electric mixer for the cream. For parties, build it in 8 to 10 individual glasses or jars using the same layering.
- When it is ready, and how to serve it — Chill 6 hours minimum, overnight is better. That is when the biscuits soften and the mousse sets. Serve it too early and you get hard biscuits and loose mousse. This is a scoop-and-serve fridge tart, not a clean-slicing cake, so spoon it onto plates.
- Make-ahead and storage — This is a make-ahead dessert by design. Build it the day before, it is better on day 2 once the biscuits have softened into the mousse. It keeps 4 days in the fridge, covered tightly. Freezing turns it into something closer to a semifreddo, still good, but not the fluffy fridge-tart texture.
- No raw egg, plus allergens and sweetness — No baking and no raw egg, so it is fine for anyone avoiding either. It contains dairy, wheat (from the biscuits), and coconut. It is a sweet dessert, and the teaspoon of salt in the caramel is what cuts that sweetness, so do not leave it out.
Nutrition
Serving: 150grams Calories: 436kcal Carbohydrates: 29g Protein: 4g Fat: 36g Saturated Fat: 20g Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g Monounsaturated Fat: 9g Cholesterol: 71mg Sodium: 399mg Potassium: 136mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 17g Vitamin A: 940IU Vitamin C: 0.4mg Calcium: 49mg Iron: 1mg
Keywords:peppermint crisp tart
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