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Square side shot of a slice of icebox cake on a plate
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5 from 3 votes

Old-Fashioned Icebox Cake

This Old-Fashioned Icebox Cake is a classic no-bake dessert that only requires 5 ingredients!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Chocolate Icebox Cake, icebox cake, Old Fashioned Icebox Cake
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Chilling Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes
Servings 16 slices
Calories 357.5kcal
Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

  • 3 ½ cups very cold heavy whipping cream
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 40 chocolate graham crackers (or more or less, depending on the shape of your dish)
  • Optional garnish: sprinkles, grated chocolate, crushed chocolate grahams

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt until stiff peaks form.
    Whipped cream with stiff peaks on a beater
  • Spread a very thin layer of the whipped cream in the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch dish.
  • Place a layer of the graham crackers or chocolate wafers in the bottom of the dish, breaking them as necessary in order to fit.
    Process shot of layering chocolate graham crackers for icebox cake
  • Gently spread ¼ of the whipped cream on top of the crackers. Top with a second layer of crackers and then another layer of whipped cream.
  • Repeat the layers until you have used a fourth layer of crackers and the final ¼ of the cream.
    Spreading whipped cream layers on icebox cake
  • Garnish the cake with crushed chocolate grahams, sprinkles, or grated chocolate.
    Chocolate sprinkles and chocolate curls for icebox cake garnish
  • Cover loosely and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or up to overnight.
    Square side shot of a slice of icebox cake on a plate

Notes

  • How to store Icebox Cake: Icebox Cake needs to be refrigerated. Covered loosely, it will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days (but it's best within the first two days).
  • The cream needs to be very cold when you whip it, so keep it refrigerated up until the last minute. I also like to chill my mixing bowl in the refrigerator for at least 15-30 minutes before using it to whip the cream.
  • Icebox Cake with Cool Whip: I stuck with the old-fashioned version and used homemade whipped cream here, since it only requires a few extra minutes of prep. That said, you can also make the cake using thawed Cool Whip. You'll need about 7 total cups of Cool Whip.
  • Use either chocolate graham crackers or chocolate wafers for a classic taste, or mix up the cookies for different flavor combinations. You can use regular graham crackers, Oreo cookies, sugar cookies or gingersnaps.
  • Add fruit to the layers in your icebox cake. You can use sliced bananas, sliced strawberries, or spread thin layers of lemon curd throughout.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 357.5kcal | Carbohydrates: 35.2g | Protein: 3.6g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 13.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6.2g | Cholesterol: 71.3mg | Sodium: 293.7mg | Potassium: 120.8mg | Fiber: 1.3g | Sugar: 16.5g