Cookies and Cream Icebox Cake
February 7, 2018 | By Jeremy Scheck | Leave a Comment
I must say it goes against my ethics and normal practice to buy packaged cookies. Yet with an oven incapacitated for over a month, I’ve had to find alternatives to my normal baking methods. These Chips Ahoy cookies, which I bought due to a lack of other options, turned out to be deeply chocolatey, pleasantly crisp, and not-too-sweet.
Icebox cakes are wonderful desserts to make in the summer when you just cannot bear the thought of warming your oven, when your oven is broken, or any time you crave something sweet but don’t feel like baking. If you have never had an icebox cake, you’re in for a big treat. Icebox cakes are made with crisp cookies and barely–sweet whipped cream. After layering the two together, you let it sit overnight in the fridge until the cookies soften to the texture of cake. Tiramisu is perhaps the most famous variant, made with ladyfingers and mascarpone custard.
I made this for a Super Bowl party last weekend, and it was a huge hit with young and old alike. My younger brother, Gabriel, even decided that he wanted me to make it for his birthday tomorrow.
Cookies and Cream Icebox Cake
Ingredients
- Three 7oz boxes Chips Ahoy Double Chocolate thins (or any like crispy cookie)
- 2 cups heavy cream or heavy whipping cream (half the cake is whipped cream so splurge for the good stuff in the glass bottle)
- A few teaspoons of sugar to taste (I use vanilla sugar)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional if you didn't use vanilla sugar. A teaspoon of mint extract is also good here)
- Chocolate bar or sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- Whip the cream to soft peaks with the sugar and vanilla.
- On a flat serving plate or cake round, spread a thin layer of whipped cream down so the cookies stick.
- Arrange the first layer of cookies in a circle, with one in the center and six surrounding.
- Spread a thin layer of whipped cream over the top (I portion it with a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop). If you don't measure out the 1/4 cup of whipped cream, be careful to pace yourself and not run out!
- Place another layer of cookies over the top, staggering the placement of the outer six with the previous layer. Repeat steps 3-5 until you don't have 7 cookies left for a new layer.
- Spread the rest of the whipped cream over the top in a thicker layer. Garnish with chocolate curls by taking a vegetable peeler to the chocolate bar or sprinkle with sprinkles to decorate.
- Chill overnight in the fridge before serving. A cake box is best but you can also put toothpicks in the top and loosely cover with plastic wrap.
Jeremy Scheck spent high school perfecting his signature cupcakes, making quiches and coffee cake by the dozen at a local bakery, and teaching cooking demonstrations at Williams-Sonoma. As a 10th grader in 2016, he began documenting his favorite recipes on a blog called The After School Bakery. In college, Jeremy learned to make 50 gallons of ice cream in the food science lab, how to prune grape vines in the teaching vineyard, the best way to milk a cow in Northern Italy, and why film photography is an art worth saving. As a sophomore in 2020, he traded blog photos for video and became a TikTok culinary sensation. Jeremy has been featured on the Today show, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC Radio, People, and Access Hollywood, among others. Jeremy is a graduate of Cornell University with a double major in Spanish and Italian, and significant coursework in food science. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more about Jeremy.