Strawberry and cream icebox cake
This dessert is luscious but not too sweet. If you or your guests have a sweet tooth you may wish to add more sugar to the cream mix or serve with a bowl of strawberry sauce.
Ingredients
200g Angel Food cream cheese
300g coconut cream
200g firm tofu
¾ cup icing sugar
Big pinch of salt
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
140g plain or vanilla vegan cookies, gluten-free if required
500g fresh strawberries hulled and sliced very thinly (keep a few beautiful strawberries aside for decorating the top before serving)
Instructions
1. Line a 9" loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. In a food processor blend the cream cheese and tofu until smooth. Add the coconut cream, icing sugar, salt and vanilla, and blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Set aside 1 cup of the cream cheese mix to ensure you’ve got enough for your top layer.
4. Cover the base of the loaf tin with the cream cheese mix (about 1cm deep).
5. Follow with a layer of cookies, breaking them as necessary to make an even layer. (This is easier with square or rectangular cookies than with round ones.)
6. Top biscuit layer with a third of the sliced strawberries, spread out as evenly as possible.
7. Cover with cream, then biscuits, then strawberries.
8. Cover with cream, then biscuits, then strawberries again.
9. Top the last layer of strawberries with the cream you set aside.
10. Refrigerate overnight. When you’re ready to serve, tip it out on to a serving dish and decorate with fresh fruit.
My late lovely aunt Minnie would often make an icebox cake for family gatherings, usually flavoured with coffee. It was delicious! When I went vegan, she kindly veganised her recipe so I could still enjoy it. I made this variation in her memory, and I think she would have loved it. It would also work with other soft ripe fruit such as nectarines, peaches or mango. Just make sure to slice the fruit thinly so it releases plenty of juice in the cake.
Icebox cakes are the ultimate make-ahead dessert because they need at least a few hours in the fridge before serving, and can definitely be made 24 hours ahead. That takes the pressure off any host, helping you stay cool, calm and collected.
This style of cake was first introduced to the United States in the 1920s by icebox manufacturers wanting to promote their wares. (Iceboxes were the forerunners of electric refrigerators and were literally insulated boxes containing blocks of ice.) They probably haven’t updated their name to ‘fridge cake’ because it just doesn’t sound so delicious!
Despite the name, there is no cake involved, just layers of biscuits and cream and fruit. In the fridge these elements slowly merge to create a moist, creamy cake-like texture and a most satisfying flavour. They are somewhat similar to English trifles, although trifle texture is more like a pudding than a cake. The Italian tiramisu is technically an icebox cake too, although it sounds a lot fancier.
