My family recipe for birthday cake is a special, old-fashioned treat. It is a classic recipe from Famous Chocolate Wafers and is also known as Zebra Cake or Icebox Cake. The “cake” texture is made by allowing the Famous chocolate wafers (thin, chocolately cookies) to soak in whipped cream in the fridge until they take on a soft, cake-like texture. This recipe is really close to my heart because it is always my mom’s favorite for her birthday.
The recipe starts with homemade whipped cream. Homemade whipped cream is made using heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and confectioner’s sugar. I start by whipping the heavy whipping cream on high until it forms peaks and then adding confectioner’s sugar and vanilla to taste. For a cake of this size I used about 4 pints of heavy whipping cream. After the whipped cream is made, the cake is assembled by putting in between cookies and pressing them together. If you add less whipped cream in between the cookies it’ll be more cakey; if you add more whipped cream it will be creamier, which is usually our preference. You can make the cake in a variety of shapes. Often we make it in a classic log shape but this year I went with a circular shape like a traditional round cake.
Although the whipped cream cake alone is delicious, I really enjoy adding embellishments to beautify the cake and provide a variety of flavors beyond cookies and cream. I decorated the cake with a buttercream frosting and pre-made Betty Crocker sugar decorations. The sugar decorations (which start out very hard) soak up moisture from the whipped cream to take on a delicious and edible texture (much like how the cookies soften up from the moisture of the whipped cream). For the buttercream, I used my mom’s classic recipe for buttercream icing:
Buttercream Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 stick butter (room temperature but do not melt!)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
Combine softened butter and vanilla extract and add sugar and milk – measurements are approximate so use your judgment. You may need to use a little more butter depending on how much icing you need. If after combined it seems too thick add a little more milk; if too thin add a little more sugar.
I colored the buttercream with food coloring, piped on some pink and yellow flowers, wrote “Happy Birthday” in gel icing, and voila! A delicious birthday treat! This is a very unique and yummy cake that I highly recommend if you want to try something different yet delicious.
No-Bake Whipped Cream Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 pints heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
- 1 box of Famous chocolate wafers
Directions
- Whip cream, adding in vanilla and sugar slowly as peaks start to form. Beat on high speed until a peak forms.
- Assemble cake by adding cream in between cookies (starting with a cookie-cream sandwich and adding on more layers of whipped cream and cookie).
- Cover the entire cake in whipped cream.
- Decorate with sugar decorations, buttercream, and text in gel icing as desired.
- Leave in fridge overnight to allow cookies to fully absorb the cream.
Millennial's Delight 