Peppermint and caramel lasagna (A South African inspired dessert)

No South African household is complete without a recipe for the perfect peppermint crisp tart. This is my twist on the old classic!

We recently went to visit my family in South Africa as we do every year. As per usual we like to go about the shops to see the new offerings and to search for some old favourites. We stumbled across a mint flavoured caramel treat and also chocolate and mint flavoured tennis biscuits; both of which were new to me. As soon as I saw this I knew it had to be turned into one of my favourite desserts: peppermint crisp tart. The only catch was that for some reason or another we couldn’t locate the peppermint crisps! Low and behold a minty aero was used in its place and it really was a delicious substitute.

How to layer a peppermint and caramel lasagna:

The whole point of this dessert is the way it looks. The layers should be inviting you to grab a spoon and take out the biggest, most indulgent scoop and savour every second of each decadently sweet layer.

It is for this reason that I opted to use a glass dish to assemble the dessert. I wanted the ooohhh’s and aaahhhh’s as you first savour the thought of the decadence that awaits then that indulgent first bite as if it is going to be the last time you’ll be able to taste this sinful sweetness.

Bottom layer: biscuits

For the very first layer I opted for the biscuits. Purely because I though this would make the whole dish easier to scoop out and serve in appealing squares.

Second layer: caramel

Once the biscuits have been placed in the bottom of the glass dish, I opened the tin of caramel treat and tipped it into a separate bowl. This allowed me to mix it a bit so it will become a bit more spreadable. With the back of a teaspoon I smeared half of the loosened caramel over each biscuit.

Third layer: whipped cream

The next layer I wanted to offset the sweetness a bit and therefore I simply whipped the cream without putting any sugar or sweetener inside. I dolloped a healthy scoop (ok, half!) on top of the caramel before spreading the whipped cream with a spatula.

Fourth layer: chocolate

It will come as no surprise that the fourth layer is a whole 100g bar of aero chocolate; luxuriously crumbled over the top and ensuring that there are some bigger chunks to give more satisfaction and surprise when you eat the dessert.

Repeat the layers once more and end with the layer of chocolate as this also serves as a decoration.

Leave in the fridge for at least four hours before serving to allow the biscuits to soften and the caramel and cream to set.

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