South African Peppermint Crisp Tart Recipe

Nov 27, 2025 0

Peppermint Crisp Tart is easily one of the most beloved and frequently made desserts in South Africa. It is a very popular South-African, no-bake dessert and loved by all ages! Who can say no to a piece (not slice) of Peppermint Crisp Tart ? Delicious ! Kids and adults all go crazy for this very popular South-African tart/pudding. A peppermint crisp tart is just what you need on a warm day to cool off.

Sometimes referred to as a Fridge Tart and occasionally as a Transkei Mud Pie, Peppermint Crisp Tart was arguably the South African dessert of choice in the 80’s and early 90’s. Today Peppermint Crisp Tart jostles with the mighty Malva Pudding for the title of South Africa’s favourite traditional dessert and whilst Malva Pudding may have a greater claim to that crown, Peppermint Crisp Tart must come a very close second.

And once you’ve tasted it, it’s easy to understand why. This no-bake treat features layers of coconut biscuits and a dulce de leche cream, all studded with shards of Peppermint Crisp - a minty chocolate bar with the most irresistible crunch. The peppermint adds a certain refreshing surprise that you won’t find elsewhere. Something rather magical happens to the ingredients as the tart sets in the fridge, creating a masterpiece of dessert decadence that needs to be tasted to be believed.

The key to Peppermint Crisp Tart’s enduring appeal is its convenience. All you need to make it are: 4 ingredients, a bowl, a whisk, a dish and a fridge - you can’t get easier than that! The ingredients list is mercifully short. There's just four ingredients in a traditional Peppermint Crisp tart or slice.

My favorite memory of this dessert dates back to my high school years in South Africa. My best friend and I had a monthly catch-up tradition: cappuccinos and big slices of Peppermint Crisp Tart on the waterfront patio of our favorite local restaurant. Those memories are baked (well, chilled) into every bite.

A delightful slice of Peppermint Crisp Tart.

There are a variety of ways you can make it, and a variety of ratios you can use. Is it the greatest 4 ingredient, non-cook dessert ever conceived? At the risk of annoying recipe purists I think I preferred the version with the yogurt for the added cheesecake flavour and the texture of the whole thing was so airy light I didn't even feel like I was eating anything overly sweet or naughty.

Now I won’t lie to you, South African’s love their desserts jaw-achingly sweet and Peppermint Crisp Tart is no different - this stuff is not for the faint of heart! I’m not the biggest fan of desserts, but even I can’t resist indulging in a small portion of this decadent dessert. Is it refined? No. Is it subtle? Most definitely not.

Technically speaking, the traditional Peppermint Crisp Tart we make in South Africa isn't actually a tart, since a "tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry" and the pastry is usually a shortcrust pastry. But let this not deter you from making a firm South African favourite.

Ingredients

Here are the key ingredients that make this dessert so special:

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Peppermint Crisp chocolate: A popular chocolate bar that originate from South Africa. You know Peppermint Crisps right? They're a chocolate bar with a crunchy crispy green peppermint layer covered in chocolate.
Tennis biscuits: Tennis biscuits are traditional coconut tea biscuits made in South Africa. Tennis Biscuits are coconut-flavored, crispy, and nearly impossible to match with American alternatives. They're a square, coconut cookie and portion up perfectly in a 8x8inch tin.
Caramel Treat (dulce de leche): Caramel Treat (dulce de leche) is the traditional filling used in SA.

Because the original ingredients of a Peppermint Crisp tart are so specific, I am often asked by readers from outside South Africa about possible ingredient substitutions.

Substitutions

Here are some substitution suggestions:

Tennis Biscuits: In the UK, readers have suggested Nice biscuits and McVitie’s Coconut Rings; and elsewhere, Voortman Coconut Cookies (US), Wibisco Shirley Coconut Cookies (Caribbean but also available in the UK), or Verkade Nizza coconut cookies (Netherlands). The key factor is to find a fairly fine-textured, coconut flavoured biscuit/cookie. If you can’t get hold of Tennis biscuits, the best alternative in the UK is Nice biscuits. McVitie's coconut rings and Shirley Coconut Biscuits are also good options.
Peppermint Crisp: If you are in the Australia, New Zealand or the UK, the good news is that Nestlé Australia also makes a near-identical Peppermint Crisp bar to the South African version and it is available via Amazon in the UK (at a price!). A less than perfect but still perfectly acceptable substitute is to grate a Cadbury Mint Crisp (or any brand of chocolate bar with crispy mint chips) or Peppermint Aero over the dessert. But my favourite hack was a reader in the US who crushed hard mint candy canes in a blender and mixed them with an equal amount of grated chocolate and sprinkled the combination on top of the dessert. Australia has now brought out a Peppermint Crisp, which is more or less the same thing as the original South African version. Alternatively, use a mint chocolate such as Peppermint Aero or Cadbury’s Mint Crisp.
Caramel Treat: For caramelised condensed milk, you can use tinned Carnation Caramel; dulce du leche; or you can make your own by boiling a tin of normal sweetened condensed milk for 3 hours (warning: may be hazardous!!).

For those of you who import stuff from South Africa to the UK, listen up! What does this mean? The EU regulation only allows milk from a specific list of countries. Where products containing animal ingredients (e.g. dairy) are imported into the EU, legislation requires that the country of origin have in place an EU-Approved Residue Control. Medicines such as antibiotics used to treat animals need to be controlled to make sure that residues (small amounts of these chemicals that can remain in the animal-based ingredients) do not end up in human food at harmful levels. Countries with an EU-Approved Residue Control Plan have demonstrated to the European Commission that they are able to control the use of veterinary medicines and monitor residues in animal products destined for the EU.

Peppermint Crisp Tart Recipe

Here's a classic recipe for Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart:

How to make Peppermint Crisp tart | 4-Ingredients

Prep time: 4 hours 30 mins

Read also: Traditional South African Bread

Total time: 4 hours 30 mins

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: South African

Ingredients:

250ml Orley Whip or whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks
2 packets of Tennis biscuits (although you will probably use less)
375g tin of caramelised condensed milk or dulce du leche
20ml caster sugar
3 Peppermint Crisp chocolate bars, crushed
3-4 drops of peppermint essence (more, if you like it minty)

Instructions:

Whip the Orley Whip and then add the caramelised condensed milk, castor sugar and peppermint essence.
Beat until well mixed and then stir in ⅔ of the crushed Peppermint Crisp.
Place a layer of whole tennis biscuits in a buttered 29x19x5cm dish.
Spoon ⅓ of the caramel mix over the biscuits and spread evenly.
Continue in layers, finishing with a layer of filling on top.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Decorate by sprinkling the remainder of crushed peppermint crisp on top.
Cut into squares and serve.

Tips and Variations:

Cream: You can substitute double or whipping cream for Orley Whip, but the outcome may be even richer than this pudding already is.
Freezing: This dessert can be frozen for up to 6 months.
Serving: Serve on it’s own or maybe an extra dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. This is a very sweet recipe, therefore you might want to “balance” it out with something unsweetened?
Vegan version: First, to make this a vegan peppermint crisp tart, use a vegan cream alternative. There are varieties which you can purchase in stores or on Amazon. I am telling you, any dessert can be made into a vegan or non-dairy version.

Enjoy this classic South African treat! Don't skimp on chill time. Transfer your peppermint crisp tart to an airtight container. Repeat the layers but make sure you end up with the chocolate layer on top. Repeat the layers but make sure you end up with the chocolate layer on top. Place in a fridge overnight.

Layers of deliciousness in a Peppermint Crisp Tart.