This easy strawberry icebox cake is the perfect no bake dessert for summer. It features layers of graham crackers, a sweet strawberry sauce, and whipped cream. It’s so simple to prepare and can be served frozen or cold from the fridge.

This strawberry icebox cake just might me my new favorite summer dessert. An icebox cake features alternating layers of cookies or wafers and lightly sweetened whipped cream. There are endless flavor possibilities – like adding fresh fruit or flavoring the whipped cream with chocolate or peanut butter. But this strawberries and cream version is the perfect recipe for berry lovers.

Here’s Why You’ll Love this Strawberry Icebox Cake

This recipe is inspired by classic strawberry cheesecake. It features layers of graham crackers alternating with layers of thickened whipped cream filling and strawberry sauce.

• For the graham crackers, you could really substitute them with any variety of cookie/wafer. They will soften as the cake chills in the fridge. I wouldn’t use anything too thick however – such as Walker’s Shortbread – as they will make the cake very difficult to cut.
• For the whipped cream, we’re stabilizing the whipped cream with cream cheese. It makes the filling thicker and adds a slight tanginess. It definitely isn’t as tangy as cheesecake – but there’s a hint of tanginess.
• For the strawberry layer, you’re going to make a sweet strawberry compote. I prefer how the strawberry sauce gives this cake more strawberry flavor compared to simply adding sliced strawberries between the layers. It also works better if you plan to serve your strawberry icebox cake frozen – no one wants to bite into a frozen strawberry!

Ingredients Needed

• Strawberry Sauce/Compote
  • Sliced Strawberries
  • Sugar – just a touch to help thicken
  • Lemon Juice – this brings out the sweetness of the berries
  • Cornstarch – to thicken the compote
• Whipped Cream Filling
  • Brick-Style Cream Cheese – this could be substituted with mascarpone, but do not use spreadable cream cheese
  • Powdered Sugar – just a touch to lightly sweeten the filling
  • Whipping Cream – it should be 33-35% MF and cold from the fridge before using
• Graham Crackers – Lotus Biscoff Cookies or vanilla wafers work too

Process

You’ll start by making the strawberry compote. Because it needs to cool fully before assembling the cake, you can easily make it up to 3 days in advance, cool fully and then store in the fridge overnight.

1. You’ll toss the sugar and cornstarch together and give it a whisk. This is to help remove any lumps in the cornstarch.
2. Add the strawberries and lemon juice to a saucepan over low-medium heat. Stir the mixture as the berries start to soften and boil gently. I use a rubber spatula.
3. Add the sugar and cornstarch to the bowl.
4. Continue stirring and boiling down until the strawberries are very soft and the mixture has thickened thickened. The juice should stick to the back of your rubber spatula.
5. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool fully. You can speed this up be transferring to a heatproof bowl, then placing the heatproof bowl in a large bowl filled with ice cubes and water.

For the cream cheese filling, make sure that the whipping cream is cold from the fridge, but the cream cheese is slightly softened. You can take the cream cheese out of the fridge when you start to make the strawberry compote.

1. Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.
2. Whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
3. Very gently, you’ll fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture using a rubber spatula. When finished – it should be an even consistency.

Once the strawberry compote is fully cooled, it’s time to assemble the cake. If the strawberry sauce has a lot of liquid – first pour it through a metal strainer to remove any watery liquid.

1. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap so that there’s an overhang around the edges. It should be lined at least twice – once horizontally and once vertically so that all the sides are covered.
2. Spoon about 1/4 cup of of the whipped cream mixture into the bottom of the lined pan and spread into an even layer.
3. Place a layer of crackers over the top. You will need to break/slice your graham crackers so that they fit in the pan in an even layer.
4. Spread about 1/2 of the strawberry mixture on top of the crackers.
5. Spread about 1/2 of the remaining whipped cream mixture on top of the strawberry layer.
6. Repeat the process: layer of crackers, followed by 1/2 of the strawberry compote, followed by the remianing whipped cream mixture.
7. Fold the plastic over the top, then cover the pan with aluminum foil.
8. The whole thing will go into the fridge or freezer until ready to serve.

Serving

When you’re ready to serve – you’ll carefully lift the cake out of the pan using the overhang of the plastic and set on a cutting board or whatever plate you plan to serve it on. If you’ve chilled the cake in the fridge – be very careful here.

I always make a little extra whipped cream to spread on the top, and then add sliced strawberries.

More No Bake Summer Desserts to Try:

• Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
• Blueberry Icebox Cake
• No Bake Cheesecake
• Peanut Butter Pie