PIES / February 8, 2019

PEPPERMINT FRIDGE TART

Name: PEPPERMINT FRIDGE TART
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 15
Ingredients: - 16 OUNCE COOLWHIP (FAT FREE OR REGULAR), DEFROSTED; - 200 GRAMS OR 1.5 PACKETS OF MARIANITAS COOKIES (VANILLA, PECAN, COCONUT); - 1 PACK ANDES MINTS (RESERVE 6 CHOCOLATES), DICED ROUGHLY; - 1 CAN DULCE DE LECHE CARAMEL; - 1 CUP HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM; - CARAMEL ICE CREAM TOPPING FOR GARNISH

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I am EXTREMELY excited to be sharing a traditional South African dessert that is close to my heart with you: PEPPERMINT FRIDGE TART.

If you’re new around here; I am originally from South Africa. Born and raised until I was 9 when my family moved across the world to North Carolina.

This no bake dessert has been my absolute favorite for as long as I can remember. From birthday parties as a child to birthday tea’s as an adult this has always been a request for my Mom to make.

Once I started living in a house of my own I started making it for myself and that became a little dangerous because now I make it whenever the craving hits! It’s also so easy and quick that it takes no time at all and you’ve got a super tasty impressive dessert!

It is such a beloved dessert with so many memories behind it and one with such a unique flavor. The recipe I am sharing with you actually originated from my Grandmother on my Dad’s side so as you can imagine, all the history and love in this dessert could not be any more meaningful.

And every time I make this or eat this it reminds of my heritage, back home, and all the people I love and remember.

Now with the emotions out of the way, let me tell you about this actual masterpiece!

Peppermint Fridge Tart is a mixture of mint chocolates, whipped cream, thick caramel, and slightly coconut flavored cookies. Freshly whipped cream is then layered on top with more caramel and garnished with Andes chocolate pieces.

It’s the most wonderful combination of light, fluffy, only slightly minty, rich caramel, chocolate, all together as an almost icebox cake/pie in your favorite pie dish.Each time I enjoy this I savor every single bite. And it’s slightly addicting to be honest.

Since this dessert originated in South Africa, there has been some struggles finding equivalent ingredients in America, but fear not it is possible!

Quite surprisingly, Mexican ingredients make the perfect replacements for half of the ingredients in this recipe:

Nestle Dulce De Leche Caramel Can be found in Food Lion, Walmart, Amazon (linked).
La Moderna Marianitas Cookies (I’ve used the Vanilla, Pecan, and Coconut) Can be found in Food Lion, Amazon (linked) OR Gamesa Barras de Coco Cookies Can be found in Food Lion, Amazon (linked).

If you love anything with whipped cream texture and caramel, this dessert is for you. The Dulce De Leche Caramel is thicker than normal caramel, it’s spreadable and wonderful with cookies on it’s own. Or you can eat it by the spoonful. A fun fact is that you can actually boil Condensed Milk and it turns to caramel! When my Dad was in the army my Mom used to make him caramel that way and ship it to him. I just LOVE that story, so sweet.