Lemon Icebox Cake

Icebox cake may be an old-school concept, but this recipe is truly spectacular. The combination of lemon curd and cream cheese frosting is intensely citrusy and refreshing, and the quick candied lemon peel makes it priceless. Did we mention how incredibly easy this is to make? You can whip this up in 10 minutes, and it will be ready to enjoy after a quick stint in your freezer–no need to even turn on the oven.

If you’re wondering, “what the heck’s an icebox cake?” or even “what’s an icebox?”, you’re not alone. Originally invented around the 1930s, an icebox is the precursor to modern refrigerators and freezers. Although at the time it was basically the cabinet equivalent of your Trader Joe’s freezer bag, it revolutionized keeping food cold at home. Housewives were very into it, and companies like Nabisco jumped on the bandwagon and started printing icebox recipes. Icebox cake is one of those that has stuck around, and for good reason. 

At its most basic, an icebox cake is whipped cream and wafer cookies (think Nilla, not Loacker Quadratini) that are layered then frozen. The freezer is where the magic happens, transforming cookies from crunchy to cakey, and whipped cream from soft to firm and sliceable. Just two ingredients and you’ve got yourself a cake!

Of course, we love adding in extras, like fruit or peanut butter. For this lemon version, we’ve used cream cheese, lemon curd, and Nilla wafers, but feel free to change it up. Other curds or jam could be nice, and we think lemon or original Oreos would work well too. You could skip the lemon peel garnish, but we don’t recommend it—it adds an extra special touch to this cake, and is super simple. Speaking of easy, now’s the time to start making your own simple syrup at home. Because sugar is a natural preservative, a batch of simple syrup will keep for months in the fridge, so we make a big one and use it to sweeten everything from cold brew to cocktails.

Made this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments below!