February is the start of strawberry season here in Florida. I get all excited when Detwiler’s Farm Market starts posting that they are receiving truckloads of fresh strawberries from Plant City. Ron went down and picked up a half flat of strawberries and these were the best strawberries I have had in years! They were sweet juicy perfection! I knew I needed to make a Strawberry Ice Box Cake.
Ok, that statement above isn’t 100% true. Until the other day, I didn’t know what an ice box cake was. My original thought was, “I need to make a strawberry lasagna.” I planned to riff off of the S’mores Lasagna I made last year. When friends and family asked what I was going to make with the strawberries and I said a “strawberry lasagna” they all thought that sounded nasty. When I described it to a friend she said, “Oh, you mean an ice box cake.” So I had to do some research on what an ice box cake actually was.
Ice Box Cake-noun
a confection made from such prepared ingredients as cookies or whipped cream that requires no additional baking but is chilled in a refrigerator before serving.
So, yes, I made an ice box cake, and had been making them for years without ever knowing it. It’s a term that has been around since the 1930s and I had never heard it until the other day! You can also call this dish a strawberry lasagna or a no bake strawberry shortcake.
An easy and delicious no bake dessert consisting of cookies, pudding, fruit, and whipped cream.
- 3 pints fresh strawberries
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 small vanilla instant pudding 3.4 oz size
- 3 cups milk
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 packages Golden Oreos at least 54 cookies
Wash the strawberries, hull them, and cut into quarters, reserve 2-3 for garnish.
Place the strawberries in a large bowl with the granulated sugar. Mix well. Refrigerate for 3 hours. This process is called maserating. This draws out the liquid in the strawberries and gives us a nice syrup.
In a medium bowl whisk together the 2 packets of pudding with the milk. Refrigerate until needed.
After the strawberries have mascerated, make your whipped cream. Place the heavy cream in a bowl of your stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, whisk until soft peaks form. Add in confectioner's sugar and vanilla. Continue whisking until stiff peaks form.
Assemble the ice box cake in a 9 x 13" cake pan. First place a layer of Golden Oreos, make sure they fit tightly together, mine took 27 cookies. Then spread half the pudding over the cookies. Top the pudding with 1/2 the mascerated strawberries and some of the syrup. Repeat the layers again-cookies, pudding, strawberries then cover with the whipped cream and garnish with reserved strawberries.
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.
Refrigerate leftovers. Cake is good in refrigerator for only 2-3 days because the cookie layer gets too mushy beyond that time frame.
Don’t let the time frame scare you off. The 6 hours are all times things are being refrigerated. You can easily start this recipe in the morning, assemble it midday, and serve it at night. OR you could mascerate the strawberries the evening before you want to serve the cake, assemble in the morning and serve at lunch.
This Strawberry Ice Box Cake was a huge hit. We had Jordan and Savvy over for dinner, dessert, and game night and we all loved the dessert. It is sweet and smooth and pairs well with the Oreo crust. Savvy isn’t an Oreo fan but even she loved this cake.
Other Strawberry Recipes You Might Enjoy
- Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake
- Homemade Strawberry Curd
- Strawberry Banana Muffins
- Strawberry Trifle
- Strawberry Sauce
- Strawberry & Nutella Breakfast Braid
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