Neapolitan Icebox Cake (No bake ice cream cake)
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Say hello to this Neapolitan Icebox Cake AKA your new favorite summer dessert. Only 6 simple ingredients and a little patience while it “bakes” in the freezer is all that is required. You can do this!
I pretty much had to make this icebox cake this weekend because it was 85 degrees and I was pretty upset about it. I don’t like being hot. So I made this Neapolitan icebox cake to distract myself and cope. And it delivered. This dessert is creamy, dreamy, cool and sweet! And it’s so easy to make! It’s no-bake so precision and serious baking skills are not necessary.
What is an icebox cake?
Great question, my friend! The simplest answer: a no-bake dessert cake made with whipped cream and/or pudding and/or sweetened condensed milk, wafer cookies and/or graham crackers and an endless array of possible flavor additions and combinations. A lot of recipes call for pudding, mine does not. Some of the most popular simply use wafer cookies and whipped cream. Mine does call for whipped cream, but I use graham crackers instead of wafer cookies. The beautiful thing about icebox cakes is that they are endlessly customizable and pretty darn hard to mess up. I mean, how can any combination of frozen whipped cream, fruit, chocolate, pudding and cookies be bad really?
Ingredients for Neapolitan icebox cake
The ingredients for this recipe are so simple:
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Whipping cream
- Frozen strawberries
- Graham crackers
- Cocoa powder
- Vanilla
How to make my Neapolitan icebox cake
It’s about as simple as the ingredients! The whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk are our main staples throughout the whole thing.
The vanilla layer
Whipped cream + sweetened condensed milk + vanilla extract. I like to put this layer in first (bottom layer) because it’s the thinnest, and it could seep into the other layers if it’s in either of the top two layers. I like nice crisp layers!
The chocolate layer
Whipped cream+ sweetened condensed milk + cocoa powder. All you have to do is whisk together the cocoa powder, condensed milk, some unwhipped whipping cream, then fold in the whipped cream. This is the densest and richest layer, I like to put it in the middle.
The strawberry layer
Whipped cream + condensed milk + strawberries. This layer takes the most elbow grease but it’s still a very easy process. Just place the strawberries in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add water by the tablespoon to keep from sticking until the strawberries are soft and mashable. I find that cooking the strawberries yields a much deeper flavor but you could just use fresh strawberries and skip cooking them if you want to. Mix the strawberries with condensed milk and whipped cream (once strawberries are cooled) and you’re ready to assemble.
Assembly
You’re almost to the finish line! From bottom to top layer order:
- Graham crackers
- Vanilla layer
- Graham cracker
- Chocolate layer
- Graham cracker
- Strawberry layer
If you plan to remove the entire cake from the baking dish, line it with plastic wrap. You will see in my photos I used wax paper this time— not a great idea. It isn’t easy to pull out and it sticks to the cake. It’s just cuter than plastic wrap so I thought I’d give it a whirl, but learn from my mistakes. You can also just leave it in the dish and serve directly from there and you won’t need to line it with anything.
How long does an icebox cake need to be in the freezer?
And now starts the hardest part of all: placing it in the freezer for 6 hours. You can get away with 4 hours if you plan to serve directly from the dish. Either way, take it out about 30 minutes before serving so it’s not rock hard.
Toppings
This would be tasty just as is, but it does lack a certain cuteness I think we like in our desserts so you have some options. I recommend at least adding a layer of freshly whipped cream on top and I’ve included measurements for that in the recipe below. You could top with fresh strawberries, hot fudge, sprinkles or you can do what I did and make magic strawberry dust because you have left overs from strawberry rice crispy treats and sprinkle that on top!
Connect with me!
If you try this neapolitan icebox cake recipe, let me know in the comments below! You can also can find me on Instagram @thefigjar or #thefigjar.
PrintNeapolitan Icebox Cake
Simple icebox cake recipe that you will want to eat on repeat all summer long. No-bake!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 2 3/4 cups whipping cream (2 1/2 cups will be whipped, remains will be used in the chocolate layer)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- graham crackers (about 13)
Instructions
- In a sauce pan over medium heat: cook strawberries. Add 1 tbsp of water and continue to add by the tablespoon as necessary just to keep from burning/sticking. Once strawberries are fully heated through and soft, use a potato masher to mash into a sauce like consistency. Remove from heat, add 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk, stir. Set aside to cool.
- In a bowl: add cocoa powder, 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk, 3 tbsp of whipping cream. Mix to combine, add another tbsp of whipping cream if it’s dry. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat 2 1/2 cups whipping cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form.
- Scoop one cup of whipped cream into bowl with strawberry mixture. Gently fold with a rubber spatula to combine.
- Scoop one cup into the chocolate mixture and gently fold to combine.
- Add vanilla and 1/3 cup condensed milk to remaining whipped cream. Reserve remaining whipped cream for topping later.
- Line an 8×8 baking dish with plastic wrap if you want to remove the cake from the dish to serve. If not, you don’t need to line the dish at all.
- Line bottom evenly with graham crackers. Spread vanilla mixture over the top. Layer with graham crackers. Add chocolate mixture and spread evenly. Top with an even graham cracker layer. Finish with strawberry cream layer.
- Place in the freezer for 4 hours if serving directly from the dish, if you plan to remove it from the dish to serve, let it freeze for 6.
- When ready to serve, top with whipped cream. Additional topping options: hot fudge, fresh strawberries, or ground freeze-dried strawberries.
- ENJOY!
Notes
You don’t have to cook the strawberries— you can use fresh strawberries in place of these, mash or purée and add as indicated in the recipe. Or you could thaw frozen and do the same.
