Peppermint Crisp Tart

Peppermint Crisp Tart is easily one of the most famous and often-made desserts in South Africa. And once you taste it, it’s not hard to imagine why. This delicious fridge tart consists of layers of coconut cookies and dulce de leche cream and is flavored with Peppermint Crisp (a mint-chocolate bar with an irresistible crunch!). Besides the rich and nostalgic taste of this scrumptious dessert, it doesn’t hurt that its coloring seems to be created specifically to show support for the beautiful green and gold of the Springbok rugby team – a part of South African culture that can bring its people together like nothing else can.

My favorite memory of having this dessert was during my high school years in SA. My best friend and I used to have a monthly catch-up date at a local restaurant where we would each order a cappuccino and a large slice of Peppermint Crisp Tart. We would sit on their outside waterfront patio, usually still wearing our school uniforms, and just do what happy teenage girls do – catch up on the latest gossip, discuss the most recent issue of our favorite magazines, and reveal our newest boy-crush. Whenever our pocket money ran low at the time of our monthly rendezvous, we would make our own tart and plop ourselves down on one of our bedroom floors, each with an extra large slice and a cup of coffee.

Ingredients

Now, as simple and easy as this recipe is to make, it’s very difficult to find its traditional ingredients here in the US. Although there are some semi-decent substitutions for these items, none of them compare to the real deal. For this reason, I’ve shied away from making this recipe as often as I’d like in the past, but as South African products start to become more easily accessible with multiple websites and even local stores stocking South African products, I’ve been able to get back to making one of my favorite desserts of all time and share it with the friends and family here. (The ingredients for this particular recipe was generously provided to me by WelkomUSA.)

You will need

• Heavy whipping cream – thankfully this is an easy find and you should have no issues getting your hands on it.
• Caramel Treat (dulce de leche) – you can buy cans of dulce de leche in most grocery stores in the States, however, I love being able to use the Nestle Caramel Treat that we always used in South Africa. Most SA expats I’ve talked to agree that these two are very close in taste, however, there is just something about getting to use the same ingredients that you used as a child that makes it taste that much better.
• Tennis Biscuits – These coconut flavored biscuits are crispy and even though there are a couple of substitution options here in the US, it’s nearly impossible to find something as delicate and delicious. If you do have to substitute, I recommend the Coconut Bar Cookies from Lil’ Dutch Maid, but I highly recommend going the extra mile or paying the extra cost for Tennis Biscuits.
• Peppermint Crisp Bars – The star of the show! And the hardest of all to find and/or replace. Peppermint Crisp Bars are green, mint-flavored shards of candy covered in milk chocolate. It is super crispy and the mint flavor is so concentrated that even the best substitutions come nowhere close to the texture or taste of these bars. In the past, out of sheer desperation, I’ve used Ande’s Mint Chocolates, but again, I highly recommend spending a little more to get actual Peppermint Crisp Bars for this recipe.

Method

The method for this recipe is surprisingly easy, compared to the impact of its rich & bold taste paired with its light texture. The filling is a quick mixture of cream and dulce de leche and assembly takes just a few minutes, after which the tart spends the rest of the prep time chilling and setting in the fridge, which makes it a wonderful make-ahead option if you’re expecting company.

The first step is to whip the heavy whipping cream to the stiff-peak stage. I use a stand mixer for this, but a hand mixer or even a whisk will do just fine. This is a process that calls for patience and vigilance, as it’s super important not to over-whip for this recipe. Once the whipped cream is ready, I place the dulce de leche in a separate, smaller bowl and give it a quick mix with a spoon to loosen it up a bit.

Next, I add it to the whipped cream and fold it in with a large wooden or plastic spoon until it’s smooth and a soft tan color. Don’t fret if you have a few small pieces of the dulce de leche that won’t fully mix into the cream – it’s better to have that than to over-mix the cream. Plus, it’s a nice little surprise when you do get that tiny burst of caramel flavor in a bit every so often.

Next, I chop, break or grate the Peppermint Crisp bars into small pieces. If you prefer, a few pulses in a food processor will do as well, but be careful not to get it too fine – you want that crunch from the minty candy to stay in tact. To finish up the filling, half of the chocolate bar pieces will then be folded into the cream mixture, while the other half will be set aside to top the tart.

Assembly

Once the filling is ready, I line the bottom of a square or rectangular baking dish (mine is 10″ x 7″) with a layer of Tennis Biscuits. If they don’t exactly reach the edges of my dish, I cut some of them to size to fill the space completely.

Then, I evenly spread half of the cream mixture over the biscuits. Next, I add another layer of tennis biscuits in the same way as the first and spread the rest of the cream mixture over the biscuits once again.

Lastly, I evenly sprinkle the remaining chocolate bar pieces over the top of the tart and at this point, the tart goes into the fridge for at least 2 hours or until it’s time to serve. Whenever I anticipate it staying in the fridge overnight, I normally cover the dish with cling wrap or a lid, if it has one, just for extra protection.

Peppermint Crisp Tart

A scrumptious dessert tray-tart made with layers of coconut biscuits, dulce de leche cream filling and Peppermint Crisp chocolate crumbles.

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Course Dessert

Cuisine South African

Servings 6 peope

Ingredients

  

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• 1 pack Tennis Biscuits 200g pack
• 2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 can Dulce de Leche 360g
• 3 Peppermint Crisp Bars 49g each

Instructions

 

• Add the entire can of dulce de leche to a small bowl and mix for about a minute to soften. In a separate bowl, add the heavy whipping cream and whip until stiff peaks form. Be very careful not to over-mix. Fold the dulce de leche into the whipped cream until smooth.
• Chop, break or grate the peppermint crisp bars into small pieces (a couple of pulses in a food processor will do the trick too). Fold half of the chocolate pieces into the dulce de leche mixture and set aside the rest.
• Line the bottom of a square or rectangular baking dish (I use a 7" x 10" dish) with Tennis Biscuits, then spread half of the cream mixture over the biscuits with a silicone or offset spatula. Add another layer of Tennis Biscuits over the top and spread the rest of the cream mixture on top of the biscuits.
• Sprinkle the remaining Peppermint Crisp chocolate pieces over the top of the mixture and let the tart set in the fridge for at least two hours before serving.

Keyword dessert, dulce de leche, peppermint crisp, peppermint crisp tart, south african dessert, tart, tennis biscuits, tray tart

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