In the past week, I have broken a glass, a plate, and a mug. I filled the glass with ice, then turned back around to the counter, and missed by a few inches, hitting the glass against the side of the counter, and it practically sheared in half. Then, I thought I had put a plate on the counter, was distracted saying something, caught my hand on it, and it flew off the edge. Then, I had a mug on the counter, and in the process of setting something else down, pushed it off. I caught it against my hip and the counter, but without thinking, stepped back and it fell to the ground.
This is thrilling to read, I’m sure. The upshot is that I have no idea what is going on! What sort of karma is happening? Is the universe trying to communicate with me? Three broken dishes in a week? What is going on? I’ve been trying to clean out my pantry, but not my cabinets!!
I don’t totally know what I’m getting at with this extended anecdote. Only that this is kind of like my kitchen diary, and I have been having a stroke of bizarre bad luck in the kitchen. But in a very niche way. Because actually, this tarte is delicious. So at least my bad luck has not turned into bad results. Yet. Fingers crossed!
I used the reliable chocolate shortbread crust from this tarte, a no-bake mint cheesecake, and then melted some Andes mints that I got a while ago and didn’t use all of during my Christmas baking.
It’s a little messy to eat, admittedly. The cheesecake filling is soft, and the chocolate topping cracks. But who cares… it all just goes on a fork and ends up in your mouth. And all together? It’s delicious.
You can definitely leave the green food coloring out if you want, but I felt it added some fun to it. It lets people know it’s peppermint-y!
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Chocolate crust, mint cheesecake filling, and melted Andes mint drizzle on top
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Shortbread Crust:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the mint cheesecake filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, cold
- Green food coloring, optional
For chocolate topping:
- 4.7 ounces Andes mints, or regular chocolate
Instructions
Make the shortbread crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Add the flour, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and salt to a small bowl and whisk together.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan (or in the microwave), add the vanilla extract to the butter and stir, then pour into the dry ingredients and stir together until thoroughly moistened.
- Press the dough evenly along the bottom and sides into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.
- Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake until the crust looks dry and matte instead of glistening with butter, about 20 minutes. (It can be tricky to tell when dark chocolate doughs are baked enough without burning because the color doesn’t change much. The dough will go from glossy to matte and smell lovely and chocolatey when it’s baked enough. Check at 18 minutes and every minute until it looks done.)
- Let cool before filling.
Make the cheesecake filling:
- In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer (or a stand mixer), mix cream cheese and granulated sugar together until smooth and well combined.
- Scrape the sides and mix again to ensure there are no lumps. Stir in peppermint extract and food coloring (if using).
- With the mixer on, add cream in four increments, letting it whip into the cream cheese after each addition.
- Whip 1 minute until thick and light. Scrape the sides and bottom to ensure even mixing and whip again if needed.
- Pour cheesecake filling into the cooled shortbread crust, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge to chill for 2 hours or overnight.
To finish:
- Melt your Andes mints or chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between.
- When the chocolate is melted, smooth, and homogeneous, pour over the top of your cold tart and spread into an even layer. Refrigerate for another 30 minutes.
- Best served cold!
Notes
No-Bake Cheesecake from Lauren’s Latest