Easy and elegant, this Chocolate and Mint Mousse Tart is as delicious as it is pretty, all decked out in green. You may know this as a Grasshopper pie, but it is so much more. It has a rich chocolate crust, creamy chocolate mousse, and peppermint-flavored whipped cream. It is so, so good.
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I can only say that chocolate and peppermint are meant to be served together. This dessert is delicious anytime, but for us Irish folks, this is our dream come true dessert to serve for St Patrick’s Day with a perfect mint flavor!
But don’t limit yourself to a special day; this mint tart is delicious anytime.
If you have been looking for a chocolate tart recipe, this is one tasty bite of goodness. It is simply light and deliciously rich, starting with an easy-to-make chocolate tart crust. This recipe, Chocolate Raspberry Tart uses the same crust with a vanilla pastry cream filling.
- Type of recipe: Dessert, tart
- Cooking method: Baking the tart shell with a no-bake filling
- Skill level: Easy to medium
- Flavors & textures: Complex flavors, with a crispy tart shell and creamy topping
The Tart Basics
- This tart is perfect for an everyday dessert. Kids love the peppermint whipped cream, but it also makes a stunning dessert for a party or family gathering.
- This is a great make-ahead dessert; it can be stored in the fridge for a day or two before serving.
- Decorate with shamrocks to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
- You can add different garnishes on top to serve this as a dessert for other holiday desserts, such as Easter, Mother’s Day, and Christmas.
Ingredients Needed
- Unflavored Gelatin: Acts as the setting agent for the mousse, ensuring it holds its shape and offers a silky, smooth texture. Knox gelatin is available in stores.
- Sugars: Granulated sugar sweetens the mousse, while powdered sugar keeps the whipped cream smooth and balanced.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Gives this dessert a deep, chocolatey flavor, while the cool peppermint keeps it balanced. Try this unsweetened cocoa powder or use your favorite.
- Heavy Cream: Whipped into the mousse for a luxurious, airy texture that It’s also the base for the peppermint-flavored whipped cream topping.
- Flavorings: Vanilla deepens the chocolate flavor, while peppermint adds a refreshing touch to the whipped cream. I use LorAnn’s Oils, but you can use peppermint extract.
- Green Food Color (Optional): Adds a vibrant green hue to the whipped cream, making it visually striking and festive, particularly for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
- Andes Mints (Optional Garnish): These chocolate mints add a decorative touch and more minty flavor.
- Shamrock Sprinkles (Optional Garnish): These are the shamrock candies I used. They are perfect for adding a playful and festive touch, especially for St. Patrick’s Day.
How To Make Chocolate Mousse Tart
The chocolate shortbread
Step 1. Prepare this recipe for the chocolate tart crust in time to let it cool completely. You can even make this a day before serving this tart.
Steps for making the chocolate filling
Step 2. Make the gelatin first. Add cold water to a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin on top, and stir to combine. Let sit for five minutes, then add boiling water and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Set this aside.
Step 3. Add the sugar and cocoa powder to a medium bowl (or use a stand mixer or hand mixer) and mix well. Then, pour in the cold heavy cream and mix at medium speed until thick.
Step 4. Pour the dissolved gelatin into the chocolate mixture and mix on medium speed until incorporated. This is the chocolate mousse filling.
Step 5. Pour the mousse into the prepared chocolate tart shell.
Step 6. Spread the chocolate filling over the crust up to the sides.
Making the Peppermint Whipped Cream
Step 7. Whip the cream by adding cold heavy cream, powdered sugar, peppermint oil, and green food coloring to a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until thick and creamy.
Step 8. Pour the flavored whipped cream on top of the chocolate layer and spread with a spatula. To make decorating the tart easier, I like to score the top with a long knife to divide it into serving slices.
Making whipped cream dollops
Step 9. Add cold heavy cream to a large bowl and mix on medium-high speed until thickened. Spoon large dollops of the whipped cream on top of the tart.
For those of you who have a piping bag, pipe the whipped cream on top and make some pretty rosettes!
Step 10. You can decorate the top in many ways, but I like adding Andes Mints. And if I am feeling extra fancy, I might add some sprigs of fresh mint leaves.
Step 11. Refrigerate the tart for one hour before serving.
Since this tart is perfect for a grand St. Patrick’s Day celebration, adding some fun green shamrock candies makes this tart extra colorful and festive.
Tart Tips
- Chill the Tart Crust: To prevent the filling from becoming runny, make sure the chocolate tart crust is completely cooled before adding the mousse mixture.
- Gelatin Preparation: For a firmer mousse, allow the gelatin to bloom adequately in cold water before dissolving in hot water. This ensures the mousse sets perfectly.
- Whipping the Cream: For best results, chill the mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for about 15 minutes before whipping the cream. Cold equipment helps achieve a firmer whipped cream faster.
- Adding Peppermint Oil: Start with a small amount of peppermint oil and adjust according to taste. Peppermint oil is potent, and it’s easier to add more than to fix an overly minty whipped cream.
- Decoration Tip: The white whipped cream on top can also be piped on with a pastry bag and a large piping tip to make pretty rosettes. For those who don’t have that equipment, I like to show the dollops.
- Serving Suggestion: For a more dramatic presentation, dust a little cocoa powder over the whipped cream before serving. It adds a nice contrast and enhances the chocolate flavor.
Variations
- Garnish with York Peppermint Patties instead of the Andes Candies.
- For Christmas, top it with crushed green candy canes; it’s really pretty!
- Change out the shamrock candies for colorful sprinkles.
- For a summer treat, top with fresh berries, such as fresh raspberries.
Recipe FAQ’s
If you are going to eat this tart immediately, you can skip the gelatin. Traditionally, gelatin is added to the mousse for stability, allowing it to be firmer and keeping the crust from getting soggy.
No, that is not necessary, as you can cut the tart in the pan, similar to a pie. However, using a removable bottom tart pan makes it easy to remove the rim of the tart pan, and then you get a prettier presentation.
Yes, the food coloring is optional. If you leave it out the tart will taste the same.
More St. Patrick’s Day recipes
I know you will want some more amazing St. Patrick’s Day recipes.
- We start our day with these Irish Apple Cream Scones that take just 30 minutes to bake with a pat-in-the-pan dough.
- My girls loved making these Mint Sprinkle Cookies and would leave them out for the leprechauns. Everyone loves the surprise filling the inside.
- Now for the adult desserts, this Chocolate Stout Beer Cake feeds a crowd and has a creamy ganache drizzle.
- These creamy Bailey‘s Chocolate Truffles are so festive with green, white, and gold sprinkles making them a delicious St. Patrick’s Day treat.
Storage
To ensure that any leftovers of this tart remain delicious, it’s important to store them properly. Wrap the tart in plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container to help maintain its freshness. Then, refrigerate the tart. It will keep well for up to 4 days.
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Recipe
Chocolate and Mint MousseTart
Equipment
Ingredients
Chocolate Tart Crust
- 1 9-inch Chocolate Shortbread Crust Here is the recipe for the chocolate crust –
Chocolate Mousse and Peppermint Whipped Cream
- 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 2 tablespoons boiling water
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups heavy cream divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon peppermint oil optionally, use ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1-2 drops Green food color Optional
- Andes Mints optional garnish
- Shamrock sprinkles optional garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the chocolate tart shell and let it cool in the tart pan.
Chocolate Mousse
- Add the cold water to a small bowl then sprinkle with the gelatin, stir well, then let sit for two minutes to soften.
- Add the hot water over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is dissolved and smooth. Set aside to let cool.
- In a medium-sized bowl add the sugar and cocoa powder and stir until combined.
- Add 1 cup of the cold whipping cream and vanilla to the bowl and beat on medium speed with an electric mixer until the mixture becomes thick and creamy. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Add the gelatin to the chocolate and mix on medium speed until the gelatin is mixed in. Pour the mousse into the prepared tart shell and spread it to the edges with a spatula.
Peppermint Whipped Cream
- Pour 1 cup of cold whipping cream and the powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl. Start mixing on low speed, then as the cream starts thickening turn the mixer up to medium then to medium-high speed, and beat until the cream has thickenedNote: If your mixer has whisk attachments then use those. You can also make the whipped cream in a stand mixer with the whisk.
- Spread the whipped cream over the chocolate mousse.
Optional garnishes with unflavored whipped cream and candies
- Make an unflavored white whipped cream by mixing 1 cup of chilled heavy cream in a medium-sized mixing bowl with an electric mixer.Score the top of the tart with a long knife into 8 wedges. With a spoon drop dollops of whipped on top of each wedge.
- You can top the whipped cream with pieces of Andes Mint Candies or sprigs of mint. For a St. Patrick's Day dessert, sprinkle shamrock candy sprinkles on top of the mint dollops.
Removing From The Tart Pan and Serving
- I prefer to chill the tart completely before removing it from the tart pan to a platter. Then cut into serving pieces.Optional – you can keep the tart in the pan and cut and serve it that way.
Storage
- Cover the tart and store it in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Notes
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Nutrition
First published: Feb. 24, 2023, Last updated: March 30, 2025, for better readability.
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About Jere’ Cassidy
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place. I am glad to be sharing sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.
I thought this chocolate mousse tart is so hard and complicated to make because it looks so gorgeous! Surprisingly, it was so easy and simple to make yet it was delightful and flavorful. My new favorite!
Loved how simple this recipe was to make! The peppermint + chocolate combo was unbeatable. Planning to make this again for St. Patrick’s Day!
I love anything chocolate so I knew I was going to love this dessert! Perfectly sweet without being too rich!
This has become my favorite St. Patrick’s Day treat! Love the minty flavor (Andes mints are a childhood favorite) combined with the chocolate.
Wow! I love a good chocolate mint dessert and this one did not disappoint. It was perfectly minty and had just the right amount of chocolate too. I can’t wait to make it again for St. Patrick’s Day next month!
This was so good! We made it today but I’m going to make it again for Valentine’s Day!
Chocolate mint is my kid’s favorite combination of flavors. This tart is so fun to make and it looks awesome. An easy dessert for any day of the week.
Chocolate and mint is one of my favorite flavor combos and so I’m definitely looking forward to trying and making this tart
So delicious! I love chocolate and mint together and this was perfect for my mint craving!
this is the best tart i have ever tasted. Totally a fan and definitely making it again.
This recipe is calling out my name! Mint and chocolate is one of my favorite combinations of flavors. I’m going to surprise my family with this for St. Patty’s Day. I can’t wait to dig in!
My favourite combination of flavours. the perfect tart. Thanks for sharing.
Mint and chocolate flavor sounds so unique. I have to give this Mini Tart and try. Perfect dessert for the weekend too.
This chocolate mini tart was so delicious and the perfect treat for St. Patty’s Day! The peppermint flavor paired so well with the chocolate shortbread crust and I love how it was mini!