Raw Vegan Peppermint Chocolate Cream Slice using Essential Oils

I have been waiting to try my Doterra peppermint essential oil for the longest time. When I was first introduced to essential oils  I was actually quite afraid to try them because I have reacted to most supplements and concentrated doses of nutrients before. I was also told that Peppermint has been known to reduce milk supply. Since I was still heavily breastfeeding at the time and wanting to breastfeed until the age of two I really didn’t want to risk it. I’m sure it would not have affected me very much at all but since I’m so paranoid due to my past experiences I tend to ere on the side of caution when it comes to things like this. Now that my breastfeeding journey is over I was so incredibly excited to use my peppermint oil. It’s just so much more delicious and better for you.  I honestly get scared when I look at the ingredient list with some of these food extracts. They are mostly just pure chemicals and I don’t even want to know what they do to us. Peppermint oil is a much safer and gentler alternative with amazing health benefits too! I, of course, use a food-grade essential oil.

I have often asked my husband out of all the desert that I have made on my blog which is his favourite? His answer is nearly always the peppermint ones!  I know peppermint isn’t everyone’s favourite and it’s definitely not a flavour that I feel like all the time but everyone once in a while I really love it. Out of all the peppermint flavoured desserts I’ve made so far this one has to be my favourite. I adapted one of my own recipes for my blackberry chocolate ice cream sandwiches https://hazelandcacao.com/vegan-chocolate-blackberry-ice-cream-sandwiches/ because I remember I really loved that one and this one turned out just as good.  I left a big stash of them in the freezer when we went away on holiday for 10 days and I was really looking forward to coming back to them. Now that we are home, we’ve been having two slices each after dinner every night and I will be sad when these run out.

The base for this slice is very easy but it has a very strong chocolate flavour. The base is actually my most favourite part of the dessert because I love a deep chocolate flavour, however, for those not used to the dark chocolate taste, it could come across a little strong.  I think it’s worth it because peppermint and dark chocolate work much better than milk chocolate. I love this base so much that I have used it for multiple dessert recipes on my blog. The cream is a cashew and coconut cream. If you do not like the taste of coconut the peppermint oil in the filling really overpowers any coconut taste. For the topping, I just melted some dark chocolate with a little bit of almond milk to smooth it out. I like to use Pana chocolate even though it costs a fortune because it melts really well and is naturally sweetened without any refined sugar. But dark chocolate chips would work just as well and only be a fraction of the price.  Personally, I really enjoy the flavour of Pana and the text returns out a lot softer when eaten so it feels more like an ice cream sandwich.  Melted chocolate chips once frozen can go a little hard and frosty I find.  The texture of these slices is perfect when kept in the fridge. I also really like them because I can just pop them out of the freezer while I prepare dinner and by the end of dinner there already soft and perfect to eat. It does make me think that they would melt very very easily on a hot day though. I’m not sure how this would have held up when I still used to live in Townsville when it was hot all the time.

As usual, this dessert is dairy-free, refined sugar-free, gluten-free and delicious.