Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart is the ultimate in sweet indulgence. Luscious whipped cream mixed with caramelised condensed milk, layered on coconut biscuits and covered in grated peppermint chocolate. As a bonus there is no cooking required. Just let it set in the fridge for an hour or two before eating – if you can wait that long!
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Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart
My daughter came to visit this week and we got to chatting about things that are commonplace in South Africa, but not readily available in England. One of the things we came up with was the most iconic of all South African desserts – a Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart.
Just the thought of it set our taste buds tingling, and we just had to make one. Unfortunately, 2 out of the 4 main ingredients are not available in the shops in the UK so we had to improvise with local substitutes, but I think it turned out pretty well. #EatentoomuchnowIfeelsick.
Even though it looks as though you spent hours making it, this is really a very simple dish to make and you can have it chilling in the fridge in less than 15 minutes. There’s absolutely no baking involved, and the hardest work is whipping double cream into stiff peaks.
What is a Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart?
A Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart is a decadent, sweet, creamy dessert, made by mixing whipped cream and caramelised condensed milk with grated peppermint crisp chocolate and layering between crispy coconut flavoured biscuits. The cream and caramel mixture gets absorbed into the biscuits as the tart chills, giving them a softer, more cake-like texture.
South Africa is well known for its fridge tarts (why not try this recipe for pineapple fridge tart?) and this is one of the easiest fridge tarts to make. It literally takes 15 minutes from start to tart. The hardest part is waiting for it to set in the fridge afterwards.
A peppermint crisp is a chocolate bar filled with cylinders of crispy mint-flavoured cracknel, which was invented in South Africa by Wilson/Rowntree and is now made by Nestle. Peppermint crisps are only sold in the shops in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand but they are available in the UK on Amazon.
Even though Amazon offers free next day delivery with Prime, we couldn’t wait, so we decided that a Peppermint Aero would have to suffice as a substitute. Taste-wise the Aero works a treat, but the crackle that you would get from the peppermint crisp is missing.
The next ingredient we needed was Bakers Tennis Biscuits. These biscuits have a lovely coconut/caramel flavour. The nearest substitute we could find was a packet of Nice biscuits so we used those instead.
Ingredients for Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart
This recipe is sufficient for a 5 x 8-inch baking dish, or you could make approximately 8 smaller individual dishes.
You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this peppermint crisp fridge tart on the printable recipe card further down the post.
- Double Cream – it has to be double cream or whipping cream so that it will thicken when you beat it. Single cream won’t thicken properly.
- Caramel condensed milk – you need the tin that is pre-caramelised. Don’t buy normal condensed milk unless you are going to caramelise it yourself. You can following these instructions on how to Make Caramel from Sweetened Condensed Milk if you want to do it yourself. But honestly it’s so much easier (and safer) to buy it ready made.
- Peppermint Crisp chocolate (substitute with Peppermint Aero)
- Bakers Tennis Biscuits – substitute with Nice biscuits in the UK. I believe in the US, the closest substitute would be Graham crackers, and I’ve also seen this tart made with Biscoff biscuits.
- Peppermint essence
How to make peppermint crisp fridge tart
Make the filling
- Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Don’t over-whisk or you will end up with butter.
- Mix in the caramel condensed milk.
- Mix in 1/2 teaspoon peppermint essence and taste to make sure the flavour of the peppermint comes through. I used Morrison’s own brand American Peppermint Essence and 1/2 teaspoon was just about right. If you like a more minty taste, add a drop or two extra.
- I used a large Aeo rbar. Grate the entire bar and mix half of it into the cream and condensed milk. Reserve the other half to sprinkle on top.
Assemble the tart
You can use a large single dish, as I have done here, or you can make approximately 8 individual smaller dishes. The number of smaller dishes you can make will obviously depend on the size of your dishes.
- Place a layer of Tennis/Nice biscuits on the bottom of your dish. Break the biscuits as needed to cover the base completely.
- Spread half of the cream/caramel mix over the biscuits.
- Repeat with another layer of biscuits. You may find that you don’t need to use an entire packet of biscuits.
- Layer the remaining cream/caramel mix on top
- Sprinkle the remaining grated chocolate over the tart
- Place the tart in the fridge and leave to set for at least 2 hours. This will ensure that the biscuits have time to soften and swell slightly in the cream mixture.
- Decorate with springs of fresh mint (optional)
For those of you who are watching your weight, look away now. I calculated the calorie count using an on-line nutrition calculator and it works out at 452 calories per slice, based on cutting the tart into 8 slices.
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Additional resources
Don’t forget to check out my handy Cookery Conversion Calculator if you want to convert any of your recipe measurements from grams to cups, ounces, tablespoons or millilitres and vice versa. You can also use the calculator for converting oven temperatures between Fahrenheit, Celsius and Gas marks.
If you live at a high altitude you may find you need to adjust your baking recipes to compensate for this. You can read all about it in this post on baking at high altitudes.
Pin for later
If you would like to make this recipe for peppermint crisp fridge tart, why not pin it to one of your Pinterest boards so you can make find it easily later. Just click on the image below.
This recipe was number 2 on my top 10 recipes for December 2019
The recipe
Peppermint crisp fridge tart
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- 5" x 8" baking dish
- Whisk or hand beater
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup Double Cream
- 1 397 g tin Caramel Condensed Milk
- 1 packet Nice biscuits
- 1 large Peppermint Aero bar
- ½ teaspoon Peppermint Essence
Instructions
- Whip the cream until stiff peaks form.1 cup Double Cream
- Add caramel and peppermint essence to the cream and mix well to combine.1 397 g tin Caramel Condensed Milk, ½ teaspoon Peppermint Essence
- Grate the Aero chocolate bar and mix half into the cream and caramel mixture.1 large Peppermint Aero bar
- Arrange a layer of biscuits on the bottom of a tart dish. Break the biscuits into smaller pieces to fill in any gaps.1 packet Nice biscuits
- Spread half the cream/caramel mixture evenly across the biscuits
- Repeat with a second layer of biscuits and the remainder of the cream/caramel
- Sprinkle the remaining grated chocolate over the top
- Allow to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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This recipe has been shared with #CookBlogShare
Love how easy this recipe is! I changed it a bit, toasted the crushed Nice biscuit in a pan for a more authentic Tennis Biscuit colour, added some butter and froze the biscuit layer for 30 mins before adding the cream mixture to it!! English in-laws loved it!!
Thanks for letting me know. I love feedback like this 🙂
Love a no-cook dessert – especially if it involves chocolate and mint!
Looks and sounds gorgeous!
Sounds lovely, i love peppermint in any form. Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare. Michelle
Oh my! That looks like total decadence on a plate. AND I want some. Pinned. #CookBlogShare
You won’t be sorry (well, your waistline might be 🙂 )
Thanks Carol, I think the peppermint flavour cuts through the sweetness.
A perfect dessert. Light and very tasty.