ice box cakes

[alacarte]

Does anyone have a good recipe for an ice box cake? I need to provide four of them for an event next week.

I have no preference or restriction on flavors or ingredients except:

--no raw eggs

--preferably the whole thing can be made in advance.

I've rejected a couple of recipes because they require whipping a pint of cream at the last minute before serving. I don't mind if it takes a lot of prep work before hand, but at the last minute I need to be able to unload and serve the cakes.

Thank you!!!

[Comfort Me]

I couldn't survive without cakes that needed no last minute fuss.

Boston Cream Pie

Coconut Cake filled with Vodka Lemon Curd, Iced with 7 Minute Frosting. (LIGHTLY toast one-third of the coconut for the garnish and mix with the un-toasted, then apply it to the cake. It looks sooooooo pretty.)

Black Forest Cake -- as long as your cream is stabilized.

Gallette des Rois

I went to a tea recently where the hostess served a 6 layer square red velvet cake with that spectacular frosting that starts with making a roux-like pudding with vegetable shortening...I gotta tell you, the square cake was stunning, and I've had dirty, dirty little dreams that included rolling around in that frosting! I'd never tell my hostess that, of course. She's something like 96 and I feel quite certain she wouldn't understand. (But I also feel quite certain many people here WILL! lol!)

Edited January 12, 2004 by Comfort Me (log)

[Katherine]

Are you looking for a traditional recipe for "icebox cake" made from plain cookies layered with whipped cream, or just a cake you can keep in the refrigerator, as Comfort Me suggests?

I've always made icebox cake by layering plain chocolate wafer cookies with real whipped cream, and coating the whole thing with whipped cream. You can use vanilla cookies, and even spread one side with a little raspberry jam. Let them sit for at least a day, for the cookies to soften and suck the excess moisture from the cream.

That's it.

[bloviatrix]

In my family, ice box cake is layers of graham crackers and chocolate pudding.

[Suzanne F]

I too thought of the classic chocolate wafer-whipped cream deal. The only problem is the chocolate wafers are not that easy to find. But I'll bet if you used, say, large thin ginger cookies, and a coffee-flavored whipped cream . . . mmmmm.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Hmmmm.... I immediately thought of an Refrigerator Cake that is in Vincent Price's cookbook.

Sorry -- I'm in the middle of moving and all my cookbooks are in boxes, otherwise I'd transcribe it for you...

[TrishCT]

I can think of 2 simple ice box desserts, though I hesitate to call them cakes per se:

There's a confection known as Chocolate Eclair Cake... graham crakers, vanilla pudding, whipped cream, chocolate....

And, Angelic Chocolate Dessert.... Angel food cake torn asunder in a simple chocolate mousselike froth....

If these are what you have in mind I'll post the recipes...

[Aussie_Gusto]

Try using either ginger nuts or some rich chocolate cookies (Nabisco sell them - often near the ice cream section) Though I prefer a slightly thicker cookie (or two at a time)

Ginger & Tia Maria: (chocolate cookies) Dip the underside of the cookie into a saucer of tia maria, join each cookie together with cream (which may also have some sugar and tia maria added) Cover completely with the whipped cream and stand in fridge overnight. This is wondeful with coffee as an after dinner dessert.

If necessary, add a little more whipped cream over the cake next day, sprinkle with cocoa. Cut the cake at an angle so that you have a rippled layer cake effect

********

The addition of mint essence to the cream with the chocolate cookies makes a wonderful cake and sprinkle chocolate svavings on top.

Add orange essence to the chocolate cookie cake and create a Jaffa (choc/orange) and add chocolate shavings and coconut as the topping.

[phaelon56]

Why not a tiramisu? It's not a traditional ice box cake but is relatively simple to make and keeps well in the fridge.

[JAZ]

Fine Cooking magazine had an article a few years ago on icebox cakes. They did a coffee flavored version of the chocolate wafer and whipped cream cake, a layered dessert with gingersnap crumbs and a cream cheese-mascarpone filling mixed with crystalized ginger, and a lemon curd-caramel thing.

I make a no-bake "cheesecake" dessert with a shortbread base, a sweetened cream cheese-whipped cream layer and lemon curd that can be made ahead entirely. It's also good with a gingersnap crust (and less time consuming).

[alacarte]

Thank you for the recipes, this is very helpful.

I seem to find myself spatially challenged with a lot of the icebox cake recipes out there. Many of them follow the same cookies-and-cream concept. They advise you to take a box of Nilla wafers, stack them up, layered with whipped cream or pudding mix or whatever, and then stack them together (huh? in one big pile?) and cover the whole thing with more whipped cream.

I am just so confused by these directions, so I'm grateful to have additional recipes to choose from!

[JAZ]

We made the Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer "cake" often while I was growing up, so I can explain the concept (never used vanilla wafers, but I iamgine the concept is the same). First, you don't really "stack" the cookies -- you place them next to each other, layered with whipped cream, so that you end up with a log shape. If you want a bigger cake, you can do two such logs side by side. Then you "frost" the whole thing with whipped cream. Then refrigerate. As the rolls sit in the fridge, the cookies absorb the moisture from the cream and soften up to become cakelike. To serve, cut the log at a fairly sharp angle, and you end up with slices with vertical stripes of cream and "cake." It's actually quite good.

The version I saw in Fine Cooking used espresso powder in the whipped cream and was dusted with crushed toasted hazelnuts. It sounds really good, too.

[Wendy DeBord]

I have to admit "icebox cakes" as a catagory threw me, at first I could only think of icebox cookies.....until I read other peoples answers. My Mom also made that traditional chocolate and whipped cream version, we loved it. I think you have to make that one in bulk for one of your selections.

Then I went and looked thru a couple of my baking books for similar recipes. There weren't very many! But heres' what I did find.

(I hope copyright won't be an issue?)

From Richard Sax's book "Classic Home Desserts" he writes on page 130: "Charlotte russe or icebox cake are both names used for desserts that consist of a mold neatly lined with peices of spongecake or ladyfingers and filled with whipped cream. When chilled, the cream sets and the dessert is unmolded and served cut into wedges. Credit of the invention of charlotte russe is generally given to French pastry che Antonin Careme, who cooked at the court of the Russian Czar Alexander.

To judge from cookbook authors like Mrs. Rorer and the tireless Mrs. Ida Bailey Allen, American housewives were whipping themselves into an icebox-cake frenzy sometime in the 1920s.

My version of icebox cake is simple and tasty. The filling sets just enough to be unmolded but is still soft, reminiscent of the ice cream cakes served at childhood pasties. (If you like, before lining the mold with cake, brush one side of each piece with a little sherry or other spirits, and place the pieces in the old as dirrected, soaked side in.) You can also fold some sliced strawberries or other fruit into the cream before filling the mold."

His recipe consists of a vanilla sponge cake lining a bowl. His filling is basicly milk and gelatin, spirits folded into sweetened whip cream with lemon zest.

This reminds me of a Italian cake I made several times, Zuccotto. It's a lady finger lined torte with toasted almonds, hazelnuts and chocolate bits (liquour is optional). In the center of the bombe you fold melted chocolate into the cream mixture so it looks like chocolate mousse. The exterior lady fingers are sprinkled with stripes of cocoa then xxxsugar before serving.

The book "The Good Cook Cakes" published by Time/Life Books has a Deluxe Chocolate Icebox Cake on page 97 credited to The Junior Charity League Of Monroe The Cotton Country Collection. It consists of layers of sponge cake cut in half VERTICALLY, then cut into layers. Filled with chocolate buttercream and sweetened whipped cream. Treat both halfs similarly and ice with whipped cream.

The last info. I found was in "Maida Heatter's Book Of Great American Desserts" by Maida Heatter. She has a East Hampton Chocolate Icebox Cake. This is a qoute from page 230. "Everything was magical, but even so, I could not believe the dessert. They called it Chocolate Mousse Cake; it is traditional icebox cake. I thought I had made or at least tasted every variation of chocolate mousse as well as chocolate icebox cake, but this one was different and wonderful. (The difference is a larger proportion of chocolate, and the chocolate is a combination of both semisweet and milk chocolate, which makes a rich, creamy, dense but not heavy, extrodinarily delicious mousse.)

I was invited into the kitchen, where I met the pastry chef, Linda Nesselm a darling young lady who had just graduated from a cooking school in Rhode Island."

Her recipe consists of purchased lady fingers lining the mold and a chocolate mousse made with gelatin, grand marnier and eggs filling it. Then it's decorated/finished with whipped cream and slices of navel orange.

I hope this helps? I think there are many published recipes that fit into the descriptions/definitions of "icebox cake". So basicly I think any cake that doesn't require baking fits your needs....even though the recipes I found did make their own sponge fingers.

[alacarte]

Thank you Sinclair for all that information!

The Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer "cake" that JAZ mentioned is the one I keep coming across.

So...to make sure I understand....you lay the cookies in a triple row like this?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And then that is covered with whipped cream, followed by another layer of cookies and more whipped cream?

[TrishCT]

Alacarte, this one looks good also:

White & Dark Chocolate Icebox Cake

[RMR]

alacarte, here is the ‘official’ recipe and picture from Kraft-Nabisco:

Chocolate Roll

I make this recently for fun and memories. My husband loved it, but then he thinks all desserts should have whipped cream.

edited to improve link

Edited January 16, 2004 by RMR (log)

[victornet]

I don't recall if Nabisco is our brand, but all my life my mother has made the "log" cake of alternating layers of chocolate wafer and whipped cream, covered in whipped cream.

The recipe is on the box, and it should be made the night before eating- not earlier or later.

I consider this to be one of the supreme desserts on the planet.

[Aussie_Gusto]

Love the drawings! hahha Another way to do it it to join 2 of the cookies such as ginger snaps or chocolate wafers together with a nice rich jame either rasberry, apricot, then cream then 2 joined

XX^XX^XX^ xx= cookies ^ cream Then cream all over once they are formed into the log.

We will all want to visit your event now! hahahhaha

[mags]

Not sure if you've already opted for the Nabisco route -- which is a great and honorable route -- but I've been playing around with an idea for a cake, sort of a cake-shaped zuppe inglese. Plan is to build it in a springform pan, with the bottom and top layers being thin layers of pound cake of sponge cake, middle layer being chewy almond macaroons (all drizzled with Grand Marnier), and the filling between the layers being canolli cream, with candied orange peel and chopped chocolate. On top is either piped canolli cream or chocolate ganache, and sides get covered in caramelized almonds or chopped pistachios.

Part of the beauty for me is that it's entirely made ahead and chilled overnight.

[alacarte]

I did a test run Wednesday night, so after chilling overnight I got to sample the end result yesterday. I was pleased, so I'll be making four more over the long weekend for Tuesday's event.

I just couldn't figure out the Nabisco cookie thing. I honestly don't know why I'm having this mental block -- obviously, it's a good thing I'm not an engineer. My guess is I just need a visual aid -- to be shown rather than told. Oh well. I've still enjoyed reading all the recipe suggestions!

In the end, I opted for the simplest recipe I could find. I used a recipe which alternates layers of graham crackers with a filling made of vanilla pudding, milk, and whipped cream -- two layers of each. The "cake" is chilled for 30 minutes to set, and then is covered with chocolate frosting (I used the Duncan Hines pre-fab).

Though I was worried that the cake would taste too ersatz, it tasted pretty good. My other worry was that a cake made with pudding would not set up firmly enough -- I had visions of serving cake slices that quickly turned into vanilla puddles. But it held the shape quite well.

[alacarte]

alacarte, here is the ‘official’ recipe and picture from Kraft-Nabisco:

Chocolate Roll

I make this recently for fun and memories. My husband loved it, but then he thinks all desserts should have whipped cream.

edited to improve link

I get it now -- too bad I didn't notice the link until just now. You make little stacks of cookies & filling, and then put all the little stacks together?

still too challenging for me.

[TrishCT]

In the end, I opted for the simplest recipe I could find. I used a recipe which alternates layers of graham crackers with a filling made of vanilla pudding, milk, and whipped cream -- two layers of each. The "cake" is chilled for 30 minutes to set, and then is covered with chocolate frosting (I used the Duncan Hines pre-fab). 

This is the Chocolate Eclair Cake I mentioned previously.

Edited January 16, 2004 by TrishCT (log)

[McDuff]

Fine Cooking magazine had an article a few years ago on icebox cakes. They did a coffee flavored version of the chocolate wafer and whipped cream cake, a layered dessert with gingersnap crumbs and a cream cheese-mascarpone filling mixed with crystalized ginger, and a lemon curd-caramel thing.

I make a no-bake "cheesecake" dessert with a shortbread base, a sweetened cream cheese-whipped cream layer and lemon curd that can be made ahead entirely. It's also good with a gingersnap crust (and less time consuming).

I have that issue kicking around the house. I made the lemon curd caramel thing on a hot day at the country club during a tournament. Next day the cooks hooted at me for making a "Hollandaise" cake. Recipe needs tweaking, I think. We're renovating the bakery at the earthycrunchy grocery store and we're getting a self serve freezer case and I have in mind finding some icebox cakes for it.

[merstar]

Hello!

This is my first post here - I've been quietly visting for a few months now.

I have two great cakes that would fit - One is the Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cake from Bon Appétit along with my notes, and the other is a Strawberry Charlotte Russe. Here are the recipes:

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE ICEBOX CAKE

"There's a hint of cinnamon in the chocolate filling and the whipped cream topping."

60 sponge-cake-type ladyfingers (from three 3-ounce packages - use the ones that are split in half) (*Note: Some reviewers brushed the ladyfingers with liqueur, such as Kahlua, or with strong coffee)

2 3/4 cups chilled whipping cream

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (*Note: I suggest using a mild cinnamon)

1 ounce semisweet chocolate, grated (I use 1 1/2 - 2 ounces)

Line bottom of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with ladyfingers. Line sides of pan with ladyfingers, standing ladyfingers side by side and rounded side out.

Stir 3/4 cup whipping cream, unsweetened chocolate and 1/4 cup sugar in heavy small saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. (I use double boiler). Remove saucepan from heat and cool to room temperature.

Using electric mixer, beat 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla in large bowl until blended. Beat in cooled chocolate mixture.

(Tip: Chill clean dry beaters and a second large mixer bowl in freezer until cold before whipping cream.)

Combine remaining 2 cups cream, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and cinnamon in chilled large mixer bowl. Using clean dry beaters, beat until firm peaks form.

Fold half of whipped cream mixture into chocolate mixture.

Spread half of chocolate filling in ladyfinger-lined pan. Top with layer of ladyfingers, then remaining chocolate filling.

Pipe or spread remaining whipped cream mixture over filling. Sprinkle with grated semisweet chocolate.

Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours. (Note: 3 hours is not long enough for the cake to set - I recommend chilling overnight). (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)

Remove pan sides from cake and serve. (I prefer serving at room temperature).

Serves 12.

Bon Appetit August 1999

www.epicurious.com

STRAWBERRY CHARLOTTE RUSSE

Ingredients:

2 envelopes gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

1 cup mashed fresh strawberries (about 1 pint)

1 cup sugar

2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries *Note: If strawberries are too tart, use less, about 1/4 cup

2 packages sponge-type ladyfingers (24 ladyfingers, split)

Sliced strawberries for topping

Instructions:

1. In a 1-cup glass measuring cup, soften gelatin in cold water for 5-10 minutes. Place glass measuring cup in saucepan filled with 1-inch of water and heat until gelatin dissolves, stirring often. Set aside.

2. In a small pan, heat mashed strawberries with sugar until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Add gelatin and mix well. Let cool to room temperature.

3. Line a 9" or 10" springform pan, bottom and sides, with ladyfingers (stand them up rounded side out, along sides of pan, and lay them on the bottom).

4. In a chilled mixer bowl with chilled beaters, whip the cream a minute or so; then add the vanilla. Whip until stiff.

5. Gently fold whipped cream into the cooled strawberry mixture, just until blended. Fold in 1/4 - 1 cup sliced strawberries.

6. Fill pan with strawberry mixture.

7. Chill several hours or overnight.

8. Just before serving, slice several strawberries for topping. Place on top of cake around the edges or in overlapping circles.

Adapted from my files.

[alacarte]

welcome merstar, and happy first post!

Thanks for the recipes -- they both sound exceedingly yummy.

Last night, I hunkered down and made four "chocolate eclair" ice box cakes for tonight's event. I'll let you know how they are received....

By the way, the irony was not lost on me that I am making ice box cakes while the weather outside is a bitter 25 degrees! BRRRRR.....