When the weather is stinking hot and you’re invited to dinner in a friend’s backyard and you’ve promised to bring a dessert, you look for something that doesn’t involve turning your oven on. If you’re still in Covid restrictions and weekend shopping can sometimes involve lining up (in aforementioned stinking heat) and you just don’t want to do that, you turn to what you have on hand. And if you’re REALLY lucky, that will involve lots of leftover ladyfinger biscuits from when you taught your FIRST IN PERSON (outdoor) COOKING CLASS IN 16 MONTHS!
(sidebar to share my first in-person “little hands” images in SOOOOOO long!)
The kids at Red Maple Montessori here in Toronto learned how to make No-Bake Mixed Berry Cheesecake Trifle 🙂
OK, enough about that – onto what to do with a ton of leftover ladyfingers? Oh, and a jar of jam I made as part of a recipe testing job. And some gorgeous strawberries? Hmmm…. How about a CHOCOLATE version of my No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Icebox Cake.
Wait, what’s an Icebox Cake?
An icebox cake is an easy, no-bake dessert (traditionally) made with chocolate wafer cookies and whipped cream that you assemble, not unlike a trifle, then refrigerate for few hours or overnight until is firms up then becomes a magical creamy “cake”.
I’d had success before with using cheesecake-type layers before so why not make CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE LAYERS? The only issue I saw was that the ladyfingers are a little bit thick to layer and get more than 2 layers so I sliced my ladyfingers in half lengthwise (you need to be gentle doing this as they break sometimes but since you are making layers, it doesn’t really matter as long as your layers are solid biscuit.
I used the jam as one of the layers instead of fresh fruit and it worked well because it helps soften the crunchy ladyfingers as it sits chilling in the fridge….
And the moment of truth… Does it hold together after 6 hours in the fridge?
Yes, it does! Beautifully!
Just add fresh strawberries and voilĂ – a dessert that’s nearly TOO simple (but don’t tell your friends!)
Strawberry Chocolate Cheesecake Icebox Cake
Easy, no-bake icebox cake with creamy chocolate cheesecake and fresh strawberries.
Ingredients
For the cheesecake layer:
- 3/4 cup (190 mL) heavy (35%) cream
- 1 x 8oz (250 g) package brick-style cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (35 g) icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 cup (100 g) chocolate chips
To assemble:
- 15-20 ladyfinger biscuits (sometimes called Savoiardi), sliced in half lengthways
- 1 cup strawberry jam
To serve:
- approx. 1/2lb (225g) strawberries, diced (approx. 3/4 cup when chopped)
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl (50-60% power for 1-2 minutes in 30 second bursts). Alternatively, you can place the chocolate chips in a bowl over a pot of boiling water (don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water) and stir until the chocolate is melted.
- Allow the chocolate to cool slightly (you should be able to stick your finger into it without it being too hot!).
- Using handheld electric beaters or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cream on high speed until it forms stiff peaks, about 2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, use the mixer (no need to rinse the attachments if you are using hand beaters) to beat the cream cheese with the icing sugar on medium speed until smooth (If you’re using a stand mixer, you’ll need the paddle attachment for this).
- Add the cooled chocolate to the cream cheese mixture and continue to beat until smooth.
- Using a rubber spatula, add the cream, 1/3Â cup at a time, to the cream cheese mixture. Fold gently after each addition until thoroughly combined.
- Grease the inside of a loaf pan (mine was 5x9 inches/ 11 x 22cm, holding approx 1.5 quart/ 1.4L) with butter and line the pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on all sides. The butter will help the parchment stay put when you are constructing the cake.
Make a layer of the halved cookies, covering the entire base of the pan. You might need to break them up a bit to make them fit, like a delicious jigsaw. - Layer approx. 1/3 cup of the jam on the cookies.
- Layer approx. 1/3 of the cheesecake cream on the jam and cookies and smooth over the entire surface..
- Make a second layer of cookie, pressing them into the cheesecake cream slightly. Layer another 1/3 cup jam on the cookies.
- Layer 1/3 more of the cheesecake cream on the jam.
- Continue in this way until you have filled the pan. You should have three layers of cookies, jam and cheesecake cream. Make sure the cheesecake cream is the last layer.
- Cover the cake pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate 6 hours to overnight.
- Remove from the fridge, uncover and gently remove the cake from the loaf pan by pulling it out by the parchment paper.
- Top with the chopped strawberries, gently slice and serve.
Make the cheesecake cream:
Assemble the cake:
Serve
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This works best with super ripe strawberries (no white insides here!) as the cake itself isn’t really very sweet. We lucked out this week with beauties from Ile d’OrlĂ©ans and they were perfect.
If you’re worried (like me!) that this couldn’t possibly hold together like an actual cake, don’t be! Even after just an afternoon in the fridge, this came out of the loaf pan beautifully and easily. If you make it the day before you are serving, it’s even more sure! I (and the people we made it for) LOVED this dessert – not too sweet, easy to make and using the best of the season!
What about you – what do you like to serve for dessert when it’s too hot to turn on the oven?
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Okay this was just STUNNING. Didn’t feel like a “leftovers” dessert, haha.
And while it looks (and is) decadent – it’s also rather light, so perfect for the heat.
Was a wonderful end to a gorgeous outdoor meal featuring an eclectic selection of wine (amber/natural/semi-sparkling from Greece, light red from Tenerife, 40-yr old Left- and Right-Bank Bordeaux) and while not a traditional pairing, went well with the 70-rd old Sauternes!
🙂
Bloody hell .. that looks so good