We are in full blown holiday season. I have mentioned many times before, but I’m going to say it again: I am a Halloween person all the way. Fall is my favorite time of year and all things spooky and weird are my favorite. That being said, I still enjoy this time of year. And I still DEFINITELY enjoy chocolate peppermint.
Ok ok, I know this isn’t a particularly unique flavor combo, but there is a reason for that. It’s so delicious! There’s something about the dark bitterness of the chocolate that mixes beautifully with the bright flavor of peppermint. But you have to get the flavors to balance just right or it won’t work. We want to be able to taste the peppermint, but not be blasted with an intense fake tasting peppermint flavor. This tart does just that.
Describe This Tart to Me
Taste: For the crust of this festive dessert is a dark chocolate Oreo crust, a classic holiday staple in the kitchen. It melts in your mouth with dark chocolate flavor, studded with salt to provide an excellent contrast to the filling. Speaking of filling, we are making a custard. This creates a sturdy and creamy filling, while still staying rich and decadent. We use coffee to tie together the chocolate and peppermint, and to deepen that chocolate flavor. When you bite into this you’ll first taste the peppermint, which comes from a simple extract, then the chocolate in the filling, and finally the buttery crust.
Texture: As I mentioned before, we’ve got a crunchy melt in your mouth chocolate crust in the outside. It’s baked, so it gets nice and sturdy and crispy in the oven. Then there’s an irresistibly creamy filling, which is both light and decadent at the same time. Then you’ve got the topping, which is made at the same time as the filling, but without chocolate.
Ease: The crust comes together in about 15 minutes with only 3 ingredients. Then we have the custard, which can be a little difficult, but on the whole it’s not too bad. We just have to slowly cook eggs and cream as well as some flavorings together on the stove. Neither the crust nor the filling take long to make, but they do need to set for a while in the freezer so set aside some time for this. The decoration can be quick or more difficult depending on what you do. I try and keep it pretty simple.
How do I make Custard?
Custard can come in many forms. And you can do so much with it. But as far as custards go, this one is pretty simple. We start by whisking together some egg yolks, honey, cream, and salt. Then we slowly cook those egg yolks on a low heat, stirring constantly. The trick here is to make sure you are always stirring so those eggs don’t scramble. We want to keep this custard nice and smooth. Next we stir in the vanilla and set aside some of the custard, to use later as the topping. For the remaining custard we can throw in some coffee, chocolate, and peppermint extract. That will all melt down into the smoothest most decadent custard ever, with just a hint of peppermint. Pour that into your crust and freeze it for a few hours. Done! But wait! What about that vanilla custard we set aside?!? Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about it. I add some more peppermint to that vanilla custard. Most of the peppermint flavor comes from that white custard, so it will be a little stronger. Then you can just spread/pour that on top of the frozen tart, and decorate! The white custard will be a very thin layer, so feel free to pile on some delicious toppings!
What About the Crust?
So this crust is the best ever. It is SO. SO. SIMPLE. Unlike some desserts using Oreos, we don’t have to separate the filling from the cookie! We are using the whole thing. But seriously we love this crust. All you have to do is throw the Oreos into a food processor and pulse them up to a fine crumb. You really can’t over pulse them, so don’t worry about it! Then we sprinkle in some salt and pour in melted butter. The crust will form into a sort of wet sand texture. Then just press it into the pan and bake it up! Bam!
What’s in this Tart?
For the crust, it’s shockingly only 3 ingredients. Yes you read that right, 3 INGREDIENTS.
Oreos: They have the chocolate and the sweetness in them already, perfect!
Salt: I always add salt to add some contrast to the filling.
Butter: This is the binding ingredient in the crust! It makes it stick and create a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
For the filling we’ve got some holiday time staples:
Egg yolks: They give this tart all of its creamy custard flavor and texture
Honey: This sweetens things up, but doesn’t create a grainy custard like granulated sugar can. Plus its just a tad healthier.
Cream: Lots and lots of cream in this one. Custard is mostly made of cream, so we need tons!
Salt & Vanilla: These provide a nice balance of flavors in this tart
Fresh Brewed Coffee: This deepens that chocolate flavor and gives you an almost peppermint-mocha kinda flavor vibe.
Bittersweet Chocolate: We obviously need loads of chocolate for a chocolate custard! I like to use bittersweet to get a nice rich chocolate flavor, but you can use any kind you like!
Peppermint Extract: This is where we get all of that holiday flavor.
Toppings Galore! In like to use melted chocolate to make some lines, and then top it with some classic crushed candy cane, but you can do whatever you want! Whip out those holiday sprinkles, add piles of whipped cream, throw on some sugar cookies, whatever you fancy.
Tips for Success:
Custard in particular can be a little hard to master so here are some tips to get it right!
Cook it low and slow: When making custard we are just barely cooking egg yolks, so we don’t cook it on a super high heat.
Stir your custard: It is super important that when you are cooking your custard you are stirring constantly we are just barely cooking egg yolks, not scrambling them!
Have a tightly packed crust: When shaping the crust, try to press the sandy mixture really tightly into the bottom and sides. If it isn’t tight it will fall apart with the filling inside.
Work fast when decorating: The tart will be very very very cold when you decorate it, so if you are working with melted chocolate, work quickly! The chocolate will solidify almost instantly.
Let the tart thaw: When you are serving the tart, let it thaw at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. This will let the filling soften to that creamy smooth custard, instead of a hard chocolate block.
Chocolate Peppermint Custard Tart
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Get out a 9 inch tart pan and set it aside.
- In a food processor, pulse the oreos together. No need to chop them or separate the cream and the cookie, just put the whole cookie in the processor. Pulse until there are no clumps of cookie and they become a fine crumb. You can't really over-pulse this, just make sure there are no clumps. Transfer the cookie clumps to a medium bowl and toss in the salt. Then, pour in the melted butter and use a spatula or a wooden spoon to combine. The mixture will be clumpy and resemble wet sand.
- Pour the mixture into your tart pan. Use your fingers to mold it along the sides of the pan, and then on the bottom. I start forming the sides first to make sure they are strong enough to hold the filling. Then I move into the center, trying to get it as even in thickness as possible. You want it to be compact, so I recommend using the bottom of a measuring cup to press the crust tightly into the pan.
- Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes. It will still be soft, but will harden as it cools. Once baked, set aside to cool. The crust should be completely cool when you add the filling to it.
- In a large saucepan, whisk the eggs and honey together. Add the salt and heavy cream and whisk to combine. Allow this to come to a boil on medium heat, whisking constantly. Make sure you keep the mixture constantly moving, or the eggs will curdle. The mixture should thicken slightly as it cooks, and can easily coat the back of a wooden spoon. This will take around 5-8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
- Carefully (its hot!) scoop out roughly ¾ cup of the custard and set aside in a small bowl. Add the coffee and chocolate to the remaining custard and whisk until chocolate is melted and the custard is smooth. Add ¼ teaspoon of peppermint extract to the chocolate custard and whisk to combine. Then, add ¼ teaspoon of peppermint extract to the vanilla custard and whisk to combine. Pour the chocolate custard into the cooled crust.
- Freeze the tart with the chocolate custard in it, (cover and set aside the vanilla custard, we will use it later) for 2 hours. The custard will set during this time.
- Once chilled, pour the vanilla custard on top of the tart, and spread into an even layer. It will be very thin. For optional decoration, I melt chopped chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals and then put it in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. I piped stripes across the tart, and then sprinkled crushed candy cane on top. You can add festive sprinkles, holiday candies, cocoa powder, whatever you want!
- Chill the finished tart in the refrigerator for at least 40 minutes before serving. Tart stays fresh in the freezer for up to one week. I recommend letting the tart thaw at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before slicing and serving, so that it is not so hard.
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