My brother and my father share a birthday in July, and ten days later it is my mother’s turn. In South Africa that falls right in the middle of the winter school holidays, so we almost always celebrated on holiday, somewhere far out in the wild.
And whenever there was a birthday, there was Peppermint Crisp Tart. My dad adores it, which is probably where my own sweet tooth comes from. Every year, for his birthday, we made it together.
Peppermint Crisp Tart is one of South Africa’s best-loved desserts: layers of coconut biscuits, a creamy caramel filling, and plenty of grated Peppermint Crisp, that green mint chocolate bar invented in South Africa back in the 1960s. No oven needed, just a fridge. Or, in our case, something close to one.
Because we did not camp on tidy campsites. Our holidays were proper “roughing it” in the bush, in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Often with no electricity, no running water, sometimes not even a toilet.
That meant no mixer. So we poured the cream (Orley Whip) into a Tupperware, snapped the lid on tight, and shook. Everyone took a turn, until the cream was thick enough. You could usually hear the laughing before the tart was even done. Then it went into the camping freezer, run off the caravan’s battery system, and that evening we got to eat it.
That is what Peppermint Crisp tastes like to me: beautiful African sunsets, braai meat and pap or freshly baked bread, and then that cool mint tart for dessert. Always special, especially in places as incredible as those.
That is the feeling I want to fold into every Peppermint Crisp Tart from Suikerbekkie Keuken. You just don’t have to shake it yourself anymore.
Order your own Peppermint Crisp Tart.
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