What a joy it is to make such a beautiful layer cake with such simple ingredients! This Raspberry Icebox Cake is the easiest, most delicious cake made with only six ingredients, and no bake time at all.
One of my favorite bloggers, Jennifer from Foodess, posted an icebox cake she’d made on her Instagram account and it looked so easy and refreshing I put it on my shortlist of things to make. So glad I did!
If you’ve never tasted or made an icebox cake before, it is simply a dessert that layers graham crackers or cookies with a creamy pudding or custard. When all the layers are in place, the cake is refrigerated, and the graham crackers absorb some of the moisture from the pudding. They become soft and sponge-like, creating a no bake cake with distinct layers and a wonderful contrast of textures.
You can customize the flavors by using different varieties of boxed puddings like cheesecake or lemon, or even chocolate graham crackers. Chopped strawberries or blueberries would also be delicious. I loved the tang the raspberries brought to this sweet and creamy combination.
It was very helpful to use a baking pan with straight sides so that the layers would be uniform all the way up, but this is not absolutely necessary. It is also a good idea to line the pan with parchment paper, plastic wrap or tinfoil so that when you are ready to slice the cake, you can lift it out and cut neat squares. I placed my cake in the freezer to chill for about an hour before I cut into it so that it was quite cold, but not completely frozen, and this helped keep the layers in place while I sliced.
I love that this Raspberry Icebox Cake can be made so far in advance, and with such little effort. It will be a good one to make this summer when we don’t really want to turn the oven on.
With berry season just around the corner, it will be fun to try different combinations. Have you ever made an icebox cake before? Let me know your favorite flavor combinations in the comments below if you have.
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Raspberry Icebox Cake
- Prep Time: 8 hours 30 minutes
- Total Time: 8 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
This beautiful Raspberry Icebox Cake is the easiest, most delicious cake made with only six ingredients, and no bake time at all.
Ingredients
- 3 sleeves of graham crackers (about 24 crackers)
- 3.4 ounce box instant vanilla pudding
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries (or another berry)
Instructions
- Prepare a 9 by 9 inch baking dish by lining it with parchment paper, plastic wrap, or foil. Leave excess paper hanging over two opposing sides of the pan so that you can easily lift the icebox cake out of the pan later. It is helpful if the baking dish has straight sides, but not absolutely necessary.
- Lay the first layer of graham crackers in the bottom of the pan. Use a sharp knife to trim some of the graham crackers to fit. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix instant pudding and cold milk for two minutes on medium speed with a hand mixer. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whip heavy cream and granulated sugar together with a hand mixer on medium speed until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the vanilla pudding until it is fully incorporated.
- Spoon 1/3 of the pudding mixture over the first layer of graham crackers. Top with 1/3 of the raspberries. Repeat two more layers of the graham crackers, vanilla pudding and raspberries, pressing down gently on the graham crackers to even out the layers.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 8-12 hours*. Garnish with crushed graham cracker crumbs and fresh raspberries if desired, lift the cake out of the pan onto a serving platter, and cut into squares.
Notes
*After refrigerating for 12 hours, I placed the cake into the freezer for one hour so that it would be very well chilled and a bit more firm when lifting it out of the pan and slicing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories: 347
- Sugar: 23g
- Sodium: 260mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 7.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.2g
- Trans Fat: 0.3g
- Carbohydrates: 48g
- Fiber: 2.7g
- Protein: 4.4g
- Cholesterol: 30mg
Redoy says
Pictures are showing how yummy this recipe! Thanks for sharing. take care…
Robert McCarter says
I used Godiva dark chocolate pudding and Hershey’s semi sweet chocolate chips instead of Berry’s. Also used chocolate graham crackers. Wife and Daughters plus the neighbors loved it. I don’t like chocolate so I don’t know. Great idea. Very adaptable.
Julie says
Thank you very much, Robert. Glad your family and friends enjoyed!