“The cool, fresh minty taste of Peppermint CRISP literally takes your breath away,” is how Nestlé describes its famous chocolate bar, a key ingredient in South Africa’s favourite dessert – and every other day – Peppermint Crisp tart.
Here, we take you through a quick and easy deconstructed version of the classic South African dessert. But first, a little bit of history…
The origin of the chocolate bar and the surprising history behind the tart
Peppermint Crisp was created in South Africa by Wilson-Rowntree in the 1960s (Rowntree also developed the Kit Kat, Aero, Smarties and good old Quality Street) before it was bought and then manufactured by Nestlé South Africa.
It makes sense then that the particularly nostalgic Peppermint Crisp tart is a South African classic.
In the tart, the milk chocolate bar, with its mint cracknel filling – a crystalline, bright green sugar concoction – balances the rich flavour of cream, ripples of Caramel Treat and the nuttiness of Bakers coconut Tennis Biscuits (another South African fave!), the original recipe for which also has a surprising history, going back to the insert in Orley Whip packaging.
Peppermint Crisp tart is originally a fridge-set pudding and it takes all of 30 minutes, at the most, to prepare. But if you haven’t got the setting time – or the fridge space – here’s a step-by-step guide to a deconstructed, last-minute Peppermint Crisp pudding that will, dare I say, leave you breathless.
READ: The surprising history of Peppermint Crisp tart and tips to make a great one
Deconstructed Peppermint Crisp pudding
You’ll need 500ml cream, 1 can (360g) Caramel Treat, four Peppermint Crisp bars, a 200g pack of Tennis Biscuits and two packets of mini Tennis Biscuits, for presentation purposes.
Cream the Caramel Treat in a bowl with a spoon to get rid of most of the lumps, then add it to the cream and whip once more just until it combines.
The texture should be light and fluffy, and all the caramel should be whipped through the cream, leaving you with the lightest caramel hue.
The mixture shouldn’t completely fall off the whisk attachment either.
Crush the Tennis biscuits by placing them in a Ziploc bag and bashing it with a rolling pin, even the back of a spoon will do, to get finer pieces. Don’t blitz them in a food processor – you want a few chunkier pieces for textural purposes – it’s also a lot more pleasant to eat than a sand-like base. The smaller bits will soften faster with your limited setting time, and they also fit perfectly into a slick, crystal glass.
Layer two or three teaspoonfuls of the Tennis biscuit base into a shallow glass. Scoop two to three full teaspoons of the cream mixture on top, before repeating the process – a third time too if your glass will allow it.
