Peppermint Crisp Parfait
Once in a while it is fun to give a classic dish a facelift and you can’t get more South African classic than a peppermint crisp tart. This recipe has been in the back of my mind in various forms for about a year now and I only got down to making it when the peppermint choc chip ice cream idea entered the mix (while on the treadmill – the irony of which is not lost on me).
And I think it really works. I just love the ice cream melting down into the caramel and biscuits as you eat it – perfuming the dessert with ice cold peppermint.
It is not a difficult recipe and just uses seven ingredients. The ice cream is insanely easy – it is based on Nigella’s no churn coffee ice cream recipe – but you need to start a day before to make the ice cream and drain the yoghurt. The ice cream recipe only uses half a tin of condensed milk (makes about 500ml ice cream) which is a pain (unless you have kids or a partner who’d happily eat the other half) so I made the ice cream using a whole tin of condensed milk but doubled the cream, extract and chocolate and had another batch in the freezer for midnight emergencies. And use a good peppermint extract – I don’t think essence will do the trick.
I used plain yoghurt (low fat) as I thought mixing the caramel with more cream would make the dessert just over the top rich and it gives it a bit of a cheesecake flavour. And I do think drying out the crushed biscuits is worth the effort. The biscuits remain quite crisp even with the wet caramel mixture on top adding just that bit of texture.
Peppermint Crisp Parfait
The dessert is very rich so you can serve at least 8 portions with this recipe
Peppermint Crisp Parfait
Ingredients
- ½ 385 g tin condensed milk
- 250 ml whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 100 g dark chocolate – half roughly chopped other half grated for later use
- 500 g plain yoghurt
- 1 385 g tin caramel treat dulce de leche
- 1 packet tennis biscuits
Instructions
- Drain the yoghurt overnight by lining a wire mesh strainer with cheesecloth and place it over a bowl. Put the yoghurt into the lined strainer, cover and leave in the fridge overnight to drain.
- Whip the condensed milk, cream and peppermint extract together until just soft peaks form – be careful not to over whip. Fold in the chopped chocolate and freeze for at least 6 hours.
- Place the tennis biscuits in a plastic bag and finely crush/bash with a rolling pin to look like sand. Pack the crumbs on a baking tray and bake for an 45 minutes at 120 degrees C to dry.
- To assemble:
- Remove the ice cream from the freezer to soften a bit.
- Soften the caramel treat with a whisk to make sure it is not lumpy and mix with the drained yoghurt.
- Spoon a layer of the biscuit sand into the glasses. Top with some of the caramel/yoghurt mix. Top again with biscuit sand and a bit of the grated chocolate. Top with another layer of the caramel/yoghurt mix. Place a scoop of ice cream on top. Garnish with the rest of the grated chocolate and serve.
Selma
Feb 24, 2014
This sounds delicious – I really like the sound of your caramel sauce made with yoghurt. I love Nigella’s no churn and use it as a template to make a lime ice cream and also a chocolate one. And beautiful, beautiful photos as always.
hein
Feb 24, 2014
Thank you so much Selma! Just love the idea of the lime ice cream – now I am thinking lime curd swirled into the basic no churn recipe and topped with crumbled short bread.
Selma
Feb 26, 2014
That sounds FABULOUS!! I made mine in a gingersnap pie crust and served with raspberries – it’s in my blog…even though I am actually hesitant to tell you that as my photos are so pathetic compared to yours!!
hein
Feb 27, 2014
Love your recipe Selma – would never have thought to make and freeze it as a pie. Must have been delicious!
sorensongs
Oct 2, 2017
What do you do with the cream, condensed milk and chopped chocolate? It is not even mentioned in the assembly instructions?????
heinstirred
Oct 2, 2017
Points 2 and 7 in the method explains it