Strawberry Icebox Cake

With a terrazzo effect

I love the ease of an icebox cake, especially in warmer summer months when I don't want to turn on the oven. All you have to do is mix pre-made cookies and a cream/custard and let it set up in the fridge for a day. The custard becomes wobbly and soft–teetering on the line of sliceable vs. spoonable–and the cookies become cake-like. You get that ideal cream-to-cake (and to-fruit in this case) ratio without having to bake a cake.

Last year, I made a riff on a classic icebox cake with whipped cream and chocolate cookies. That recipe is rich and decadent (and you have to turn on the oven to make the cookies), so I wanted to make a more seasonal and refreshing version this year: one with strawberries, vanilla, and a light sponge. For a while, I was stuck on how I would make it. I turned to my old cookbooks for inspiration and found these beautiful images:

One was frosted on the outside with this simple piping technique that I loved, and the other was a Charlotte. Both had a terrazzo effect inside. This got me thinking, could I take the frosted outside of one, the ladyfingers from the other, and make a terrazzo effect using strawberries and ladyfingers?

The answer was yes. And the final result is pretty damn perfect.

Not only do the slices have that cute terrazzo effect, but the custard is super vanilla-forward and rich in flavor yet light on the tongue. The ladyfingers also soften while resting in the custard and balloon into a tender sponge.

For the custard of this icebox cake, I used a classic Charlotte bavarois base: an anglaise lightened with whipped cream and set with gelatin. Whole strawberries and broken-up ladyfingers are folded in while the outside is decorated with a mascarpone whipped cream and more strawberries.

With all that being said, I almost didn’t publish this recipe… In the assembly, you coat the pan with a thin layer of whipped cream so you can easily unmold and decorate, and while all the tests went well, the whipped cream got stuck when I made the cakes for the camera. I was very sad until I realized that touching it up only took a few minutes and was certainly easier than trying to coat a Charlotte in whipped cream (the inside is so soft it would be difficult to apply an even layer). So, the recipe stays as is, just be aware that you may need to do some touch-ups.

Even if you encounter some issues with unmolding, the whole thing comes together quickly and the decoration is quite simple. The total active time including decoration is around 1 hour. Just be aware, as always, to read the entire recipe upfront as this cake does need to set overnight.

Ingredients