[2] A Black Forest trifle. This version uses brownies instead of chocolate cake, but the cake-and-whipped-cream combination was a predecessor to the icebox cake Here’s the recipe (photo © Pampered Chef).

[3] A charlotte is a molded custard or cream. The mold is first lined with ladyfingers, sponge cake, or other baked goods, and unmolded into the charming dessert you see here. This charlotte uses Biscuits Roses de Reims, a pink-hued French biscuit—a cookie in American English. A charlotte russe uses ladyfingers (photo © Fossier)

(For those who hate the heat, pick up a copy of Cool Kitchen: No Oven, No Stove, No Sweat! 125 Delicious, No-Work Recipes For Summertime Or Anytime, a book that’s out of print and can be bought for a song.)

> The recipe for the original icebox cake is below, along with more icebox cake recipes.

> Here’s the history of the chocolate wafers that are essential to make the original icebox cake.
 
 
ICE BOX CAKE: EARLY HISTORY

An icebox cake—also called a refrigerator cake—is a no-bake cake, a descendant of the charlotte and the trifle.

 
 
ICEBOX CAKE: AN AMERICAN CREATION

Wikipedia says that the Icebox Cake was first introduced in the U.S. during World War I, but that its popularity took off in the 1920s and 1930s. Different brands of products, from wafers to condensed milk to pudding, began printing “back of the box” recipes. As long as one had an icebox in which to keep the whipped cream cake, it could be made on a hot summer day without turning on the oven or stove (in the era before air conditioning, which didn’t begin to be installed in homes until the 1950s, becoming more common in the 1960s).

The cake is left overnight in the icebox; the wafers are softened by moisture from the whipped cream so the cake can be easily sliced. When cut at a 45-degree angle, the stripes of chocolate and cream are displayed.

Nabisco printed a recipe on the back of its box of Famous Chocolate Wafers, called “Famous Chocolate Refrigerator Roll.” In the original recipe, the wafers are sandwiched with whipped cream and stacked to form logs, which were laid side-by-side with more whipped cream to frost the exterior. See the technique in this recipe from Joy The Baker, who cleverly transforms the logs into a Christmas yule log cake.

The cake can also be assembled in a baking dish—an easy option for novices.

In recent times, icebox cake connoisseurs have made variations using caramel, fresh fruit (bananas and strawberries are popular), fruit curd, jam, peanut butter, pudding, and other fillings; and graham crackers, tea biscuits, vanilla wafers, and other cookies instead of chocolate wafers. The whipped cream itself can be made in any number of flavors.

Ernestine Emanuel of New York is credited with creating the graham cracker icebox cake, after having a dessert of graham crackers and chocolate pudding. (Wikipedia doesn’t give a date.)

Just in time for this summer comes Icebox Cakes: Recipes for the Coolest Cakes in Town.

The author, Jean Sagendorf, has taken the icebox cake a leap forward by making variations in numerous favorite dessert flavors. Banana Rum, Key Lime, Lemon Caramel, Mexican Chocolate Spice, Peanut Butter Cup, Peppermint Chocolate, Red Velvet, Raspberry Ganache, and Salty Caramel are just some of her modern icebox cakes. You can start at the beginning and make the project your summer’s “Julie and Julia.”
 
 
RECIPE: THE ORIGINAL ICEBOX CAKE

The ingredients are the same as Nabisco’s original recipe, but the instructions have been adapted slightly to provide more options. More icebox cake recipes follow.

Ingredients

 
To make a Chocolate Icebox Cake, use chocolate whipped cream.

Preparation

1. MAKE the whipped cream: Beat the cream with the sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.

2. SPREAD a thin layer of whipped cream on a round serving plate. Arrange six cookies in a circle, with another cookie in the center. Spread the layer of cookies with a half cup of whipped cream, but not over the edge. The whipped cream should be at least a quarter-inch thick between the cookie layers.

3. REPEAT until the cake is four or five inches high, and top it with a finishing layer of whipped cream. Stagger the cookies in each layer (see the photo above). The cookie edges should be visible on the side of the cake; but if you like, you can ice the sides before serving, creating even more of a surprise when the cake is sliced and served. If you want to ice the sides, whip an extra cup of cream before serving. By waiting until right before serving, the plastic wrap won’t stick to the sides.

4. COVER with plastic wrap (or a cake dome); a trick is to place toothpicks around the rim of the cake to keep the plastic wrap off of the whipped cream. Refrigerate for at least eight hours, but overnight resting makes the cake even moister.

5. GARNISH as desired before serving.
 
 
MORE ICEBOX CAKE RECIPES

 
Plus

[5] The classic Nabisco “refrigerator roll,” which popularized icebox cakes in the U.S. (photo © Kraft Foods).

[6] A lemon and blueberry icebox cake. Here’s the recipe (photo © C & H Sugar).

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We recently wrote about gazpacho; now we’re expanding the conversation to recipe below, Chilled Cucumber Yogurt Soup.

Chilled soups can be savory or sweet, smooth or chunky, thick or thin, creamy or fat-free, flavored with your favorite herbs and spices, garnished with anything from croutons to chopped nuts.

You can use a base of milk/cream, purée, stock/broth, yogurt, even bread and water or beer.

You can serve the soup in bowls, cups, mason jars, mugs, wine glasses. You can serve mini-portions in shot glasses or juice glasses.

You can carry it around in a thermos.

If you don’t often cook—or if you want to teach a household member to cook—these recipes are pretty foolproof. Most can be made in a blender.

While soups with meat (beef, chicken) or lots of butter don’t lend themselves to chilling (the fat globules solidify), you won’t notice their absence. Just name your favorites and look for a recipe.

 
The recipes can be as classic as white gazpacho (the original gazpacho) or as modern as iced carrot and orange soup.

Nothing is easier than blender soup. Try this yummy recipe…

…and check out these 9 ways to use cucumbers.

strong>Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE all ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

2. TASTE the soup just before serving and adjust seasonings as desired. Serve in bowls garnished with finely diced cucumber, red onion and a drizzle of olive oil.

 
Recipe adapted from Andrew Zimmern, FoodAndWine.com.
 
 
CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOUPIN OUR SOUP GLOSSARY.

[2] Chilled cucumber soup (photo Jacob Barss Bailey | CC BY NC-ND 2.0 License).

[3] Raspberry soup with yogurt. Here’s the recipe (photo © Eat Wisconsin Cheese).

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The gelato and sorbetto—celestial, awesome, fill in your favorite superlative here—is our new favorite ice cream and sorbet. Everything is as good as it can be (our thought: “to die for”), sometimes jaw-droppingly so (don’t overlook the Chocolate Sorbetto—no dairy—is like thick fudge, the Basil-Lime special of the month is a revelation, etc. etc. etc.).

Launched in 2002 in Paris by two friends, the the company now has some 60 locations worldwide, and growing.

There are two locations in Manhattan (Eighth Avenue and Eighteenth Street in Chelsea and University Place in Greenwich Village), one in Boston on Newbury Street, and others to come (keep checking the website or the Facebook page for new locations).

Want an Amorino Gelato in your home town? Franchises are available. All of the food is made by artisans in Italy and shipped to the U.S.

The brand’s signature is the gelato “flower” (photo above), with petal-like scoops. You can have as many different flavors as you want, from the monthly selection of 23 flavors (gelato, sorbetto, frozen yogurt) plus a special of the month.

Not in the mood for an ice cream cone? There are:

If you are traveling to an “Amorino city,” make it a destination. You won’t be disappointed, even if you have to wait in line.

Or better yet, make your city an Amorino city!

This fun approach to Melon and Prosciutto was created by Chef Mario at Bar Eolo in New York City.

 
OTHER TYPES OF HAM

You don’t have to use prosciutto, an Italian dry-cured (uncooked) ham served in very thin slices. You can try serrano, speck or any ham you prefer. While this recipe

Check out the different types of ham in our Ham Glossary.

A coulis (French, prounounced coo-LEE) is a fruit or vegetable sauce that is puréed, then strained to remove any seeds. Although straining creates a more elegant-looking sauce, you can save a few minutes and serve the purée unstrained.

You can use fresh or frozen strawberries—or any berry you prefer. Or, try kiwi, mango or other fruit. You can make the coulis up to a week in advance and store it in a sealed container in the fridge.

 
Ingredients For 1 Cup Of Sauce

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

2. COOL and transfer to a blender or food processor. Purée until smooth; strain, and refrigerate.
  

It’s National Ice Cream Month, which we interpret to include all frozen desserts. There is no National Frozen Yogurt Month, No Sherbet/Sorbet Month.

The history of frozen desserts dates back to 2000 B.C.E. when the Chinese used syrups to flavor snow. Fruit juices were turned into fruit ices. Honey and aromatic spices expanded the menu of flavors.

So, the first frozen dessert was more sorbet than ice cream. Here’s the history of ice cream.

Since ice cream is one of our favorite foods, we created a glossary of the different types of ice cream 10 years ago. Today’s tip, straight from the glossary, is to make a semifreddo.

You don’t need an ice cream machine to make semifreddo. As with granita, it is often made in a loaf pan or even an ice cube tray.

Semifreddo is the word for “half cold” in Italian; frozen soufflé is the English term. Semifreddo may look like ice cream but it is more of a frozen mousse, created by combining equal parts of ice cream and whipped cream. It is frozen in a pan or other container, then sliced and served.

Semifreddo is a special occasion or party dessert that you can prepare ahead of time. The elegant Strawberry-Pistachio Semifreddo recipe below is from Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs.

Since the recipe uses raw eggs, pasteurized eggs are a worry-free solution (here’s more about pasteurized eggs and the 12 popular foods where you should consider them to eliminate the Salmonella risk).
 
 
> The different types of frozen desserts: a glossary.
 

RECIPE: STRAWBERRY-PISTACHIO SEMIFREDDO

Prep time is 25 minutes; allow another 12 hours for freezing. You can make and freeze the semifreddo up to three days in advance.

You can use a different fruit, replace the nuts, etc. (we just made a raspberry-chocolate chip semifreddo adapting this recipe, and replaced the vanilla extract with Chambord raspberry liqueur). You can also be trendy, as in this recipe for Chocolate Semifreddo with Chile-Chocolate Sauce.

You can also garnish with nuts, sliced fruit, chocolate shavings, crushed cookies or candies, and sauces: chocolate sauce, custard sauce, fruit sauce, whipped cream, etc. You can also top it with meringue, Baked Alaska-style.

Check out the different types of dessert sauces in our Dessert Sauce Glossary.

 
Preparation

1. LINE a 9×5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides.

2. PLACE the strawberries in a food processor or blender. Add 1/3 cup of the sugar; process until the berries are puréed and set aside.

3. BEAT the cream and 1/3 cup of the sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed, just until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

4. BEAT the egg yolks with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a separate large bowl, until pale yellow and tripled in volume. Add the vanilla. Fold the whipped cream into yolks. Stir in the pistachios.

5. POUR half of the egg mixture into the loaf pan. Top with half of the strawberry purée. Use a small spatula to swirl the purée into the egg mixture. Repeat with the remaining egg mixture and strawberry purée.

6. SMOOTH the top with a spatula and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze until firm, about 12 hours. To serve, remove the plastic wrap and invert the semifreddo onto a clean cutting board. Cut into 1/2-inch thick slices. Garnish as desired and serve.
 
 

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