The Vintage Recipe I Come Back To Time And Time Again. (It's That Good)

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There are some recipes that have the uncanny ability to transport you right back to childhood. For me, one of the most enduring ones is icebox cake. Whether my mom was making it in anticipation of having company over, or on a whim as an after-school treat, chowing down on an icebox cake always felt like a special occasion. As family legend has it, one particular friend was so amazed (and confused) by this concoction of super-thin chocolate wafers, which absorb the whipped cream slathered on them, that he thought my mom had baked each and every teeny, tiny layer of cake.

In fact, icebox cake could not be easier and doesn't require any baking at all. This retro cake dates back to the 1920s, when home refrigeration first became common, and requires putting this treat in the icebox to set. It was traditionally made in the summertime, so as not to use the oven and make the already warm kitchen even hotter. Over time, it simply became a layered, nostalgic treat. To assemble this bit of deliciousness, all you need is heavy cream that has been whipped with a splash of vanilla and some chocolate wafer cookies. Then you can get to layering. The magic happens once you leave the layered dessert in the fridge overnight and the wafer cookies absorb just enough cream to make them tempting and cake-like.

The world of icebox cake as I know it came to a bit of a screeching halt in 2023, as the Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers that I would faithfully seek out at the grocery store were suddenly nowhere to be found. After a few vain attempts, I realized that Nabisco had quietly discontinued the cookies. My son was at-the-ready to concoct an iteration of our family tradition, and I was at a loss. Ultimately, you can turn Oreo Thins cookies into an icebox cake, although the resulting texture is not quite as tender as the original. I've also heard that Dewey's Bakery Brownie Crisp Cookie Thins work, or you could even bake your own.

Although the iconic long, slim, bright yellow box with its tantalizing and highly fragile wafers is no longer out there, the icebox cake carries on. Whether it is a variation of the icebox cake that I've lovingly sandwiched together (and happily eaten) most of my life, or the type where you use instant pudding for a picnic-worthy treat or ingredients such as graham cracker and mango to create frozen mango float, there's an icebox cake out there ready to tempt each of us. Let's keep childhood wonder alive, one icebox cake at a time.