Last month I received some exciting news...Baking Backwards has partnered with The Recipe ReDux ! Today's post is my first recipe to share with The Recipe ReDux community and it's a keeper!





If you are unfamiliar, The Recipe ReDux is the first and only recipe challenge founded by registered dietitians. It's aim is to generate amazing healthy recipes to share with the public. Each month, the official Recipe ReDux bloggers are challenged by a new recipe theme. On the 21st and 22nd of each month, two groups of these official bloggers share their creations on their own blogs and link to each other so that blog visitors (like you!) can discover all of the delicious creations (and partner blogs) involved in the month's theme challenge. It's like a big party where everyone brought something amazing along that won't wreck your diet. Win.





This month the ReDux challenge was to create a recipe featuring extracts or spirits. I don't use a lot of alcohol in my baking and cooking these days but I do love vanilla extract and peppermint extract so I paired them in today's recipe. BE WARNED: A little peppermint extract goes a VERY long way so add it in tiny quantities until you achieve your desired mintiness.









When I planned out this recipe I intended to make a frozen chocolate peppermint slice but accidently created a delicious vegan " Viennetta " ice cream cake! If you don't remember Viennetta, this video should jog your memory ! It was a branded delicious soft ice cream "cake", really more like a slab or a log, with thin crispy layers of chocolate that cracked when you sliced it. Mmm.





The recipe for today has two parts. Part 1 is a creamy and silky "ice cream" made from coconut cream and golden yam, flavoured with peppermint extract and sweetened with stevia and just a touch of maple syrup. Part 2 is a silky and sweet peppermint raw chocolate shell made from coconut oil and raw cacao powder, sweetened with stevia and a hint of maple syrup. This dessert offers a healthy dose of fibre from the yams, lots of antioxidants from the raw cacao, healthy fats from the coconut oil and cream, and is quite low in sugar and free from refined sugar. It tastes very rich and satisfying for such an innocent ice cream cake. In fact, I'm hesitant to call it "ice cream" since the creamy coconut layer would also make a delicious healthy soup if you left out the stevia and mint! By why make soup when you can just as easily indulge in a delicious cake like this without the huge slice of guilt?!





I have made many vegan "ice creams" over the past few years and am often disappointed with the results. This is an exception. The texture is really creamy and delicious and the flavour is dreamy. Don't skip the peppermint and vanilla extract, they really make the coconut layer taste like ice cream. This recipe is very easy to make and doesn't require an ice cream maker. I enjoyed the recipe both soft and firm. It is very reminiscent of Viennetta if you only freeze it for about an hour and a half. For a more traditional firm ice cream that you can scoop, freeze overnight or for at least 4-6 hours.

I hope you give this recipe a try, its a new favourite! To anyone just discovering my blog via the Recipe ReDux community, welcome to Baking Backwards, where delicious food goes hand in hand with healthy eating. Y'all come back now.