Peppermint crisp squiggles!

These are a combination of two cultures classic treats, the kiwi squiggles biscuit, and the South African peppermint crisp.

My version has a cocoa sablee base, mint ganache, mint creme filling and peppermint crisp pieces, coated in dark chocolate and finished with white chocolate squiggles. 

Peppermint crisp squiggles- makes 20 biscuits

Cocoa sablee:

100g flour (I used Edmonds gluten free plain flour, which helps keep these super short and crumbly) 

15g cocoa powder

50g icing sugar

60g butter (I used salted butter)

30g cream 

Put the flour, cocoa powder, icing sugar and butter together into a bowl. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a sandy texture. Drizzle in half the cream and mix to combine, then add in the remaining cream and mix until you have a smooth dough. 

Roll the dough between two sheets of baking paper so that it’s 3-4mm thick. Chill for at least 20 minutes, then use a 6cm fluted cutter to cut out the sablees. Re-roll any leftover dough as needed until you have 20 biscuits. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15 minutes at 180c. Allow to cool before making the mint ganache. 

Mint ganache:

60g water

110g dark chocolate (I used valrhona manjari) 

1 tsp peppermint essence ( I use Hansells)

Bring the water to a boil. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate, followed by the peppermint essence. Whisk until smooth. Allow to sit for a few minutes if needed until the ganache is a thick, pipeable consistency. Immediately pipe a .5-1cm thick border of ganache around the edge of the biscuits, working quickly as the ganache will start to set. It can be warmed or melted if it sets before you’re finished working with it. 

Mint creme: 

2 peppermint crisp chocolate bars

150g icing sugar

2 tsp peppermint essence

1-2 tbsp water

Roughly chop the peppermint crisp bars into a crumble and place into a bowl.  Whisk the icing sugar, peppermint essence and 1 tbsp of the water together. Whisk in the remaining water a little bit at a time until you have a thick but pipeable icing. Scoop the creme into a piping bag and fill the centre of each biscuit with the creme. Press the top of the biscuits into the crushed peppermint crisps, so that the creme is completely covered in the peppermint crisp.

Chocolate coating:

350g dark chocolate (I used valrhona manjari)

100g white chocolate

Melt all but a few pieces of your chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Allow your chocolate to cool to 32c. Use a fine grater to grate in your chocolate one piece at a time, stirring and checking the temperature between each piece. Once the chocolate reaches 29c, it is tempered and ready to use. Tempered chocolate will set very quickly, so you need to heat it as needed to keep it fluid, without going over 30c and losing the temper on your chocolate. If you go over 30c you need to begin the process again. If your chocolate is particularly thick you can add some coconut oil or cocoa butter to thin it out (do this when melting the chocolate, before tempering it. I normally add 10g of cocoa butter or 5g of coconut oil for every 100g of chocolate)

Place each biscuit face down into the chocolate, then flip it over so that it is completely coated in chocolate. Use a fork to lift it out and drain off any excess chocolate, then place on a sheet of baking paper. Repeat this with all the remaining biscuits. 

Melt the white chocolate and allow it to cool to about 30c. Pour into a piping bag and cut a small 1mm tip. Pipe squiggles of white chocolate on top of the biscuits. Once the chocolate is set store the biscuits in an airtight container for up to one week.