Strawberry Icebox Cake

Most people dread turning on their oven in the summertime. I, a dessert enthusiast, have never been that person; I’ve always braved the heat so I can take advantage of ripe berries and stone fruit by incorporating them into every cake, crumble, cookie, and pie I can think of. This summer, however, the heat has been unrelenting. And for the first time ever, I’ve decided to fully embrace no-bake desserts like icebox cakes. 

The beauty of an icebox cake is that there’s little more to do than wait: You layer cookies or crackers with a creamy filling, then let time and the coolness of the fridge do the hard work. As the confection sits, the crackers soften and the flavors meld, creating a dessert that mimics a classic layer cake, no oven required. 

The recipe below features strawberries and cream, a flavor combination that’s especially delicious in the summer when strawberries are at their ripest and juiciest. Strawberries and cream are delicious as is, but serving them with vanilla wafers and a strawberry compote makes it a more substantial dessert.

My inspiration for this was the fraisier cake, a French dessert of sponge cake layered with pastry cream and strawberries. To keep the cake as unfussy and light as possible, I’ve skipped the pastry cream and have opted for a vanilla whipped cream. I use vanilla wafers in place of cake, but after several hours of soaking up the strawberry compote and cream, it tastes just like a delicious vanilla cake. The result is a celebratory dessert that’s easy enough to whip up for weeknights or make-ahead for a special occasion. Here’s how to make it.

5 Tips for Making a Summery Strawberry Icebox Cake

Make your own strawberry compote. When testing with different strawberry fillings, I experimented with jam and found it too sweet and thick for my liking. Fresh strawberries didn’t have quite the sauciness I wanted, and macerating them produced a filling that was too juicy for the cake. The solution? A simple, quickly cooked strawberry compote, which has just the right consistency to hydrate the crackers and also allows you to adjust the sweetness to your liking. A tablespoon of lemon juice adds a pleasant acidity to the compote, making it a more balanced filling for the cake.

Line your loaf pan with plastic wrap. Like my s’mores icebox cake recipe, this cake is made in a standard 9- by 4-inch loaf pan. For seamless unmolding, use plastic wrap to line your loaf pan before you assemble, making sure the plastic hangs over the edge so you can easily hold onto it when you unmold it. To unmold, simply remove the plastic wrap from the top of the cake, invert it onto a rimmed baking sheet, then remove the loaf pan and remaining plastic.

Line the perimeter of the pan with halved strawberries. To recreate the classic look of fraisier cake, press halved strawberries—hulled side up and cut side flush to the sides of the pan—against the plastic-lined sides. When you invert and unmold the cake, it will reveal an impressive border of strawberries.

Store-bought wafers are fine. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can make your own vanilla wafers for this recipe. But if time is of the essence, store-bought Nilla wafers will do the trick. The flavor of vanilla wafers most closely resembles the flavor of a classic sponge cake, but you can swap it out for a different cookie like shortbread or creme cookies if you prefer. Just avoid sugar cookies, as they may make the dessert cloyingly sweet.

Allow the cake to come to room temperature after slicing. Though a frozen cake is easier to slice, no one wants to eat one unless it’s of the ice cream variety. Let the cake sit at room temperature for ten minutes so it’s still chilled, but not so cold it’ll give you a brain freeze. Plus: Letting the cake warm up slightly will help the flavors become more pronounced. Delicious things come to those who wait!