Peppermint Crisp Dessert

This is my take on the ever so popular South African dessert. It is rich, sweet and for a lot of South Africans, very nostalgic. If you have a sweet tooth, then this recipe is for you.

This recipe is best prepared a day in advance, but a couple of hours in the fridge should do.  You can use either one large serving dish or divide the mixtures among glasses or bowls for individual desserts. This dessert is sweet and rich, so portions can be small. For the chocolate mousse, a dark chocolate works well (between 50% - 70% cocoa solids). See the how-to video here: Alana Smith (@alanasmithsweetphotography) • Instagram photos and videos

Enough for 12 portions

DARK CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

dark chocolate, 250g

unsalted butter, 60g

eggs, 6

BISCUIT LAYER

coconut biscuits, 200g (usually 1 packet) - Tennis® biscuits are traditional, but a similar style coconut biscuit (such as Nice biscuits) works well too

CARAMEL CREAM LAYER WITH PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE

caramel condensed milk, 395g (1 tin)

fresh cream, 500ml (2 cups)

peppermint chocolate, about 98g - Peppermint Crisp is traditional, but any minty chocolate works too

To make the chocolate mousse, start by breaking the chocolate into blocks and placing it in a large heatproof bowl.  Add the butter (you can roughly chop it into blocks).

In a medium saucepan, cover the base with boiling water and set it over a low to medium heat.

Place the bowl with the chocolate and butter over the saucepan (making sure the surface of the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl).

Melt the chocolate and butter slowly stirring occasionally with a spatula until smooth.

Remove from the heat.

Separate the eggs (placing the whites into a large, clean dry bowl and the yolks into a medium heatproof bowl).

Whisk the egg yolks a little by hand then scoop some of the melted chocolate and butter mixture in, then whisk until smooth.

Pour the yolk mixture back into the remaining melted chocolate and whisk by hand until smooth.

Beat the egg whites with electric beaters or mixer on a high speed until stiff peaks.

Add about a third of the whites to the chocolate mixture and gently whisk to loosen the mixture.

Using a large metal spoon or spatula, gently fold in the remaining egg whites until the mixture is uniform.

Pour the chocolate mousse into a medium size serving dish (the mixture is fairly runny so don't panic - it will set). Alternatively, if you are dividing the mixture into individual portions, take care not to knock all the air out.

Refrigerate until set (for an hour or two before adding the other layers of the dessert, you can also do it overnight).

Crush the biscuits, then top the chocolate mousse (if you are using a large serving dish, you can leave the biscuits whole, simply arrange them on top of the chocolate mousse).

You can reserve a few whole biscuits for decoration.

For the caramel cream, in a large bowl, using a hand whisk, mix the caramel until smooth.

Whip the cream until stiff, then fold it into the caramel mixture until uniform.

Roughly chop the peppermint chocolate, then add half of it to the caramel mixture.

Spoon the caramel mixture over the biscuit layer.

Decorate with the remaining chocolate, a whole biscuit on each dessert and fresh mint (optional).

Refrigerate for a couple of hours until set (ideally overnight, but you can tuck in straight away if you really need to).