Peppermint Crisp is a milk chocolate bar filled with a multitude of thin cylinders of mint-flavoured 'cracknel' (which is a brittle crystalline/sugar concoction extruded in fine hollow tubes).[1] Invented in South Africa by Wilson-Rowntree in the 1960s, it was eventually bought out and manufactured by Nestlé South Africa. A hugely popular chocolate bar in South Africa for many decades, it is now part of that country's culture - not only as a confectionery item, but also as a popular topping used in baking and desserts.
The Peppermint Crisp is sold in South Africa as both a 49 gram bar and a 150 gram slab. In New Zealand it is sold as a 49 gram bar, and in Australia as a 35 gram bar.
In South Africa, it forms the basis of the Caramel-Peppermint Crisp Tart, a hugely popular South African ice box dessert.[2] It is also popular as a topping on sponge cakes and cupcakes. Nestlé South Africa also sells an ice cream containing Peppermint Crisp shards, as well as a Peppermint Crisp dessert topping.[3] Burger King South Africa sells a fusion dessert containing vanilla ice cream and shards of Peppermint Crisp[4] while Krispy Kreme South Africa sells a popular Peppermint Crisp Tart gourmet doughnut.[5]
The Peppermint Crisp can be used as an ingredient in mint chocolate cheesecakes and slices, and broken-up to decorate the top of pavlovameringue or cheesecake. James and Melanie Maddock used Peppermint Crisp on top of their dessert during a food challenge on the cooking show My Kitchen Rules.[6]
1 Currently manufactured by General Mills in the U.S. and Canada. Produced by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand elsewhere. 2 Brand owned by General Mills; U.S. and Canadian production rights controlled by Nestlé under license. 3 U.S. production rights owned by The Hershey Company. 4 U.S. rights and production owned by the Smarties Candy Company with a different product. 5 U.S. rights and specific trade dress owned by Nestlé; rights elsewhere owned by Associated British Foods. 6 Produced by Cereal Partners, branded as Nestlé. 7 Produced by Cereal Partners and branded as Nestlé in the U.K. and Ireland. Produced by Post Foods elsewhere. 8 Philippine production rights owned by Alaska Milk Corporation. 9 Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai production rights owned by Fraser and Neave. 10 Used only in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia. 11 Used only in the Philippines. 12 U.S. production rights owned by the Ferrara Candy Company. 13NA rights and specific trade dress to all packaged coffee and other products under the Starbucks brand owned by Nestlé since 2019. 14 Brand owned by Mars, sold by Nestlé in Canada. 15 Produced by Froneri in the U.S. since 2020.
