Biscoff Icebox Cake

What’s an icebox cake, you ask (or maybe better yet, what’s an ICEBOX?) Icebox cakes came into fashion in the early 1900s when electric iceboxes, or the OG version of the fridge, started sweeping the country.

Traditionally made with chocolate wafer cookies and whipped cream, these lovely layers are set in a pan and chilled until the whipped cream softens the cookies to create an easy, no-bake cake texture.

I’ve upped the ante a bit and decided to use those amazing spiced cookies from Belgium, the Biscoff cookie, and paired it with some whipped, sweetened cream cheese. The end result is something similar to a spice cake with cream cheese icing. Can you beat that??

Ingredients

This will be a short list, there’s only 6 ingredients!

• Cream cheese. It’s key that the cream cheese is truly softened before making the filling so it blends smoothly with the whipped cream
• Heavy whipping cream. Different than milk or half and half, heavy whipping cream has a fat content that will set properly when whipped on high speed.
• Biscoff cookies. These are easy to find at the grocery store, or if you fly Delta enough, you can stock up during the in-flight snack. They are a great substitute for graham cracker crumbs in recipes, like in this pumpkin cheesecake because they pack plenty of flavor with a caramelized cinnamon and brown sugar profile.
• Confectioners’ sugar. Sift your confectioners’, or powdered, sugar before adding to the mixer to avoid any clumps.
• Vanilla bean paste or extract. There are a few recipes that I spring for the extra vanilla bean paste because it really amps up the flavor, and this is one of them. Vanilla extract will work too, but the paste really pops the vanilla in the filling.
• Salt. Offsets the sweetness and allows the flavors to come through stronger.

Making Icebox Cakes

Icebox cakes are amazing because of how easy they are to make. First, we are going to make a sweetened whipped cream with cream cheese.

Step one is to whip the cream cheese well so that it is light and fluffy. Using a softened cream cheese will really help with this. This will make sure that once we add the heavy whipping cream, the two will blend together beautifully.

Once the cream cheese is whipped nicely, add the heavy cream and continue to whip (starting on low at first to avoid a messy disaster! Ask me how I know). Increase the speed to high so the cream will whip into heavy peaks that sit nicely on your spatula.

Keep an eye on the mixer as it works, it doesn’t take long to overwhip and turn lumpy. Stop when you have a smooth, silky texture.

Layering

Well, that’s all the cooking we have to do (I told you this is easy!) Next is the assembly – my favorite part!

To start, we need to prepare our loaf pan so this cake is easy to remove. Line the pan in both directions with plastic wrap. Make sure you get the wrap into the corners and edges. Also, leave an overhang of the wrap. This will let you cover the cake fully to chill and give you something to pull the cake out when it’s time to serve.

Next, we are going to create what will become the top and sides of our cake. Yes, we COULD ice the cake after it is removed from the tin. That’s a valid option. But this is a no-bake, prep-ahead cake. Which means I want the work at the end to be as minimal as possible.

An offset spatula is a great tool for spreading the cream filling as it lets you get into the edges easier, but a small spoon or knife will also do the trick.

Next, we start to build our interior layers. What’s important here?

Cookie layers. We want to line the cookies up as close as possible to one another to avoid any gaps. Take the time to cut the cookies as needed to fill the layer completely. Don’t worry if the cookies break as you cut, just smoosh them together in the cake tin, no one will be any the wiser.

Cream layers. Once you create the exterior icing, the remaining cream mixture should fill 4 more layers. I just eyeball it, or you can measure it out. I like an even amount of cream to cookie ratio, so two generous scoops of cream with a rubber spatula worked out pretty close.

Just take your time and smooth the cream into a flat, even layer. Your offset spatula works well here again. If you have crooked layers, it may be noticeable once slicing. Will it affect the taste? Not at all. But those lovely crisp layers are so pretty!