Kitchn Love Letters

I Just Found the Icebox Cake of My Dreams (There’s a Reason It Has Hundreds of 5-Star Reviews)

published Jul 31, 2024
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labeled photo of six slices of different icebox cake recipes
Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Food Styling: Brett Regot

In the past few years, as I’ve found myself baking more days of the week than not for work, I’ve also found myself leaning into simpler, low-lift recipes when I’m in the kitchen just for fun. Bonus, if they’re no-bake and I can avoid turning the oven on. While I most often dabble in no-bake cheesecakes, I’ve always been fascinated by the world of icebox cakes and their annual renaissance come summer. 

If you’re not familiar, icebox cakes, in their most straightforward description, are made by layering whipped cream and wafer cookies to create a “cake.” The cake is then put into the refrigerator to chill, the cookies to soften, and the whole thing to set so that it’s sliceable, like a layered cake. The story goes that icebox cakes came about as a way to promote the icebox (which we now refer to as the refrigerator), and their popularity resulted in recipes being printed on the back of the boxes of the ready-made ingredients they were made with.

Though they mostly all follow the same basic concept, icebox cakes come in a variety of flavors, shapes and sizes. They can be made in a loaf pan or springform pan or even built free-form on a platter with many or just a few layers. Whipped cream made from just heavy cream and sugar is classic, but you’ll find recipes that include cream cheese or mascarpone. There are endless possibilities when it comes to the cookie layer. You can go traditional with chocolate wafers, (Nabisco’s discontinued Famous Chocolate Wafers had an iconic icebox cake on their packaging) or opt for graham crackers or Oreos. Vanilla whipped cream and chocolate wafers are a classic flavor combination, but the cakes can run the gamut in flavors, such as key lime, pumpkin, or apple. And they don’t have to be only cream and cookies. You can layer in sauces, like caramel, nuts, or fruit. The possibilities are really endless with icebox cakes. 

To narrow down my choices, I decided to test six popular recipes with chocolate-forward flavor profiles, but that’s where the similarities ended. Would I prefer the simplicity of a classic chocolate cookie and whipped cream flavor combo? Will the flavor and texture of Double Stuf Oreos be better than graham crackers or chocolate wafers? Do all varieties of cookie soften the same and be sliceable in the cakes? Is free-form the way to go? After one day of assembling, a night of patiently waiting, and lots of heavy cream, I found the icebox cake of my dreams. 

Quick Overview

So, What’s the Best Icebox Cake Recipe?

Ina Garten’s mocha chocolate icebox cake had — hands down — the best flavor. With mascarpone, coffee liqueur, espresso and cocoa powders, and chocolate chip cookies, it came together easily, sliced well, and kept us going back for more.

Meet Our 6 Icebox Cake Contenders

After further reading through each recipe, it became clear that the similarities between each icebox cake were far and few between. Each recipe differed from the other in some way, be it in flavor, number of layers, shape, size, and so forth. The only major commonality between the recipes is that they all follow the general concept of layering some variety of cookie or cracker with cream. 

Though there weren’t distinct similarities between all six recipes, several recipes did overlap with each other. Of the six recipes, three shared the same flavor profile of a more traditional (sometimes labeled “classic” or “old-fashioned”) chocolate wafer cookie and whipped cream combo while the other three had alternative flavor profiles of cookies and cream, s’mores, and mocha. Two of the recipes were built in springform pans, however exact size varied, and two recipes were built free-form on serving platters. All but one recipe instructs to chill the cakes in the refrigerator to set and for the cookies to soften, while the remaining recipe (which uses graham crackers) recommends to chill the cake briefly in the freezer to maintain the cracker’s crispness. 

  • Broma Bakery: Of all the recipes, I was most intrigued by Broma Bakery’s recipe, which has a s’mores flavor profile and opts to chill the cake in the freezer to maintain some of the graham cracker’s crispness rather than allow it to fully soften as is more traditional for icebox cakes. This recipe also included a layer of homemade chocolate ganache between the layers of marshmallow fluff-flavored whipped cream and graham crackers as well as an outside coating of torched meringue. The only cake assembled in a loaf pan, this recipe leaves the number of layers in the cake up to the person making it. 
  • The Seasoned Mom: The Seasoned Mom’s icebox cake is one of the three with the “old-fashioned” flavor profile. Using a whipped cream flavored with vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar, the cake is made free-form by creating stacks of chocolate wafer cookies with the cream. The stacks are then laid down the center of a platter to create a log shape that gets covered with any remaining whipped cream and optionally garnished with chocolate sprinkles. 
  • Ina Garten: With 358 5-star reviews, Ina Garten’s mocha chocolate-flavored cake is built in an 8-inch springform pan and features five layers each of cream and cookie. The cake is made from a mascarpone cream that is spiked with coffee liqueur and flavored with instant espresso, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Rather than a chocolate wafer cookie as most other recipes, this one opts to use chocolate chip cookies (Tate’s Bake Shop, in this case). 
  • Ree Drummond: Drummond’s recipe follows suit of an “old-fashioned”-flavored icebox cake. Made from just three ingredients (heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and chocolate wafer cookies), the 9-inch cake built in a springform pan consists of three thick layers of whipped cream, two layers of cookies, and a generous topping of crushed wafers. 
  • Smitten Kitchen: Adapted from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, Smitten Kitchen’s recipe is the last of three that falls into the old-fashioned flavor profile of chocolate wafer cookies and whipped cream. The cream, sweetened with granulated sugar (the lowest amount of sugar of the bunch at 3 tablespoons) and flavored with vanilla, is layered with chocolate wafer cookies freeform on a serving platter. Stacked at 11 layers of cookies and whipped cream each, this cake was the tallest and most cookie-heavy of the bunch as well as the only to instruct whipping the cream to soft peaks rather than stiff.
  • Cookies & Cups: With an Oreo cookies and cream flavor profile, this recipe requires the least heavy lifting of the bunch as it calls for Cool Whip in place of homemade whipped cream. It also calls for Double Stuf Oreos (alternatively, you can use regular Oreos), which are briefly soaked in milk, as you would ladyfingers in tiramisu. Built in a 9-by-13-inch pan, this cake is the only one  served like a sheet cake right out of the pan. 

How I Tested the Icebox Cake Recipes

  • I made all of the icebox cakes, one after the other and as closely as possible, over the course of one day. Making them as closely together as possible helped them to chill in a similar time frame and allow them to be tasted together. 
  • I used the same brands for ingredients that overlapped in each recipe. For example, I used Goya Chocolate Maria Cookies in the recipes that called for chocolate wafer cookies as well as Domino confectioners’ sugar and granulated sugar. 
  • I weighed critical dry ingredients. For more precision, I used this conversion chart to weigh any granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar to ensure I was using a standardized, consistent amount throughout all the recipes. In addition, because the Nabisco wafers that most recipes reference are no longer available, I used an equal amount by weight of the Goya Chocolate Maria Cookies. 
  • I used an electric stand mixer for all the tests. This ensured my cream was whipping in a consistent manner and at the same rate for each recipe.
  • I tasted each cake three times. For the recipes that specified a minimum chill time, I tasted all the cakes at the minimum time given to evaluate the structure of the cakes. In addition to tasting at those minimum times for the few that noted one, I tasted all the cakes twice more: the first in the morning the day after being assembled (after they had chilled overnight), and the second later that night. 

Why You Should Trust Me as a Tester 

I have a degree in baking and pastry arts, which I received for completing a four-year baking and pastry program. Most of these coursework here included hands-on training in the kitchen. During my time in college, I also studied at École Nationale Supérieure de Pâtisserie in France. In 2019, during my final months of school, I interned at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, went on to intern at Food Network, then went freelance. My work has included recipe testing, developing, and writing. I have extensive experience in recipe testing, which I still do professionally, and know how to apply my foundations in baking and pastry as well as experience writing and developing to evaluate the success of a recipe.

Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Food Styling: Brett Regot

1. The One with Room for Improvement: The Seasoned Mom’s Old-Fashioned Icebox Cake 

Overall rating: 5/10
Get the recipe: The Seasoned Mom’s Old-Fashioned Icebox Cake

Though undeniably pretty and while my family (who helped taste along with me) found the structure and assembly of this one to be very clever, this recipe fell flat in several other areas. In regards to assembly, there was a discrepancy in the exact number of cookies needed to reach 9 ounces. Although it could be chalked up to a difference in brands, rather than 29, I measured 9 ounces of cookies to be about 42. I opted to use all 42 of the cookies in assembling the cake as there was more than enough cream, and this did yield a very long cake. The cream, which was supposed to be whipped to stiff peaks, became grainy during assembly, verging on broken at the very end. (As a note, this was the case for almost all the creams that called for whipping to stiff peaks). 

Upon tasting, I didn’t find the cake to have the ideal texture or flavor I was hoping for. The cookies did soften nicely, and the cake sliced cleanly and was easy to serve. Unfortunately, it just didn’t hold up to its appearance. The high ratio of cream seemed to overwhelm the cookies, making the ratios of ingredients feel skewed. Moreover, when you spread cream that is whipped to stiff peaks, it becomes worked further and this can lead to a grainy, over-whipped texture. That was the case with this cake. Because the cream became grainy when assembling, the final texture was a little overly stiff. 

Moreover, I found the cream to be a bit bland, neither sweet enough nor tasting much of vanilla. However, though there were issues, this recipe is a fairly solid base and can easily be amended (adjusting sugar and vanilla to your taste, and whipping the cream to medium peaks) to yield a more successful cake. 

Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Food Styling: Brett Regot

2. The Whipped Cream Lovers’ Cake: Ree Drummond’s Icebox Cake

Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Food Styling: Brett Regot

3. The Most Visually Impressive (but Most Work): Broma Bakery’s S’mores Ice Box Cake 

Overall rating: 8/10
Get the recipe: Broma Bakery’s S’mores Ice Box Cake

I was the most intrigued by this recipe for its s’mores flavor profile and untraditional callout to chill the cake in the freezer. The cake was undeniably s’mores-esque, though I would recommend opting for the bittersweet ganache option if you’re like me and don’t like things overly sweet. Moreover, I enjoyed the texture that came from chilling in the freezer (no time frame is given, so I would freeze overnight next time so that it’s extra cold and slices nicer) as the ganache firmed and graham crackers stayed slightly crisp. The cake was also undeniably impressive looking with its golden brown, torched meringue coating. (As a side note, I’d be remiss to not mention that the meringue is Italian-style with a cooked syrup and not Swiss.) Taking all those components into account, this one was the most work out of all the cakes between making homemade ganache and meringue.

A bit of extra work aside, where this cake didn’t quite do it for me was in the details of making and assembling. As someone who develops recipes, I’m often thinking about what information is most useful for those making my recipes. In this case, I found it would have been much more beneficial (especially if you’re not quite experienced in the kitchen) to have a set number of layers in the cake and call for the amounts needed in each layer. I found that guessing the number of layers that could fit in my loaf pan and the amount of each took up more time as opposed to the cakes that included at least a rough estimate of how much of each component to use. 

Though I would have loved more detailed assembly instructions, the flavor of the cake made up for it some. All the components were flavorful enough to hold their own (although they did lean sweet), but more importantly, played well together, yielding a cake that tasted almost like a scoop of s’mores ice cream. My only note in terms of flavor is that I would next time add a pinch of salt in the ganache and the marshmallow cream to keep the sweetness in check. 

Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Food Styling: Brett Regot

4. The Sky-High Stunner: Smitten Kitchen’s Icebox Cake

Overall rating: 8.5/10
Get the recipe: Smitten Kitchen’s Icebox Cake

In the fashion of Smitten Kitchen’s recipes, this one was very straightforward and well written, making it insanely easy to follow. Unlike the other five recipes, this was the only one to call for whipping the cream to soft peaks. Whipping the cream to a softer texture ensured the cream did not become over whipped in assembling and led to a much more favorable final texture. This cake was the second of the two to be assembled freeform at 11 layers each of wafers and whipped cream. I, and my assistant tasters (my family), found this freeform assembly method to yield a notably stunning cake that looked like much more work than it was. 

Though visually impressive and one of the simplest recipes to follow, there were just a couple things that I think could have made this cake better. First, I found the cake flavor to fall slightly flat. Disregarding the flavor of the cookies which could easily be swapped, I found the whipped cream itself to lack the sweetness it needed to amplify the vanilla flavor in the cream. While it was slightly sweetened, I think a little more sugar (and I don’t like things very sweet) could have brought it to life. Moreover, I found that the ratio of cookies was a bit too high for the amount of cream. The cake felt like it was more cookies than cream. Even with that, I think this recipe is worth holding on to as it is reliable and can easily be adjusted to fit your needs. 

Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Food Styling: Brett Regot

5. The Easiest Icebox Cake: Cookies & Cups’ Oreo Icebox Cake

Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Food Styling: Brett Regot

6. The Very Best Icebox Cake: Ina Garten’s Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

Overall rating: 10/10
Get the recipe: Ina Garten’s Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

As a longtime follower of Ina Garten (I started watching Barefoot Contessa when I was in middle school), I’ve always wanted to try this cake, but just never got around to it. As with most of Ina’s recipes, I certainly was not disappointed. Though this recipe did require a few more ingredients than the others, I found it to be well worth it. The mocha-flavored mascarpone cream used to make the cake had more body, making it feel more substantial than some of the others, though still light and not heavy. After making the cream, I was concerned its stiffer texture wouldn’t soften the five layers of thin, crisp Tate’s cookies, but it actually softened them perfectly. As a note, Tate’s cookies are now sold in 7-ounce packs rather than 8-ounce, but three-packs will still suffice for this recipe. These things combined made for the best textured cake. 

Hands down, this cake had the best flavor. The mascarpone, along with body, provided what I realized the other cakes needed — subtle tang and nuance. The coffee liqueur (I used Kahlua) wasn’t overpowering or boozy, but rather brought out the subtleties of the espresso and cocoa powders. Though it maybe could have become cloying from the cookies, the cake was perfectly sweetened. Additionally, though not the quickest of the cakes to make, it still came together fairly fast and easily, sliced nicely, and kept me wanting to go back for more. When I first read this recipe, I had high hopes once I saw it had hundreds of five-star reviews. I’m happy to report it did not disappoint.