Icebox Cake with Homemade Chocolate Wafers and Caramel Cream
The homemade chocolate wafers in this icebox cake make a big difference. They are intensely chocolate and less sweet, which gives the cake so much more personality. When you slice into the icebox cake you reveal the beautiful stripes of caramel and chocolate. You can simply spread the top with the caramel whipped cream, or pipe a fancier design.
Ingredients
Homemade Chocolate Wafer Cookies
- 1 1/4 cups (133g) cake flour I used Softasilk
- 1/3 cup (37g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners' sugar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Caramel Whipped Cream
- 1 cup (160g) sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 tsp corn syrup
- 4 cups heavy whipping cream
Coffee Whipped Cream
- 1/2 cup coffee beans broken slightly in a mortar and pestle
- 2 tbsp sugar more if you want it sweeter
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Caramel Whipped Cream
- In a large saucepan put the sugar in a mound in the center of the pan, be sure it doesn’t hit the sides. Gently add the water and corn syrup, making sure the sugar doesn’t splash up on the sides of the pan. If any of the sugar is not dissolved, very gently stir, but make sure none of the sugar hits the sides of the pan. Cook over high heat, without stirring.
- When the sugar starts to color on the edges, gently stir the sugar. Until it is quite dark, it will smoke a bit. I like my caramel very dark, with an almost bitter edge. Once the caramel is dark in color, reduce the heat and add half the cream. The caramel will sputter and seize up, which is normal. Gently whisk the caramel until the caramelized sugar dissolves. Add the remaining cream and stir.
- Strain the caramel cream into a shallow container. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least an hour. It can be made a day ahead.
Chocolate Wafer Cookies
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla extract. Cream together on medium speed for a minute, then add the flour mixture and mix just until evenly combined.
- On a sheet of plastic wrap, form the dough into a 1 1/2-inch-thick log. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. The cookie dough can be made the day before.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, slice the dough log into thin rounds, about 1/8-inch-thick. Arrange on the baking sheets and bake for about 8 minutes or until set (they will no longer be shiny). If baking more than one sheet at a time, you may want to rotate the trays back to front and switch from top to bottom racks midway through baking. Let the cookies cool completely. Makes about 75 cookies.
Assembly
- Line an 8x4-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, set aside.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, whip the chilled caramel cream until very soft, slouchy, peaks. Be sure not to whip the cream in a plastic bowl or it may not whip properly. Reserve the remaining 1/3 of the cream for topping the cake. Whip cream on a lower speed for a longer time. If you whip the cream on medium speed, instead of high, you will have a smaller air bubble and the cream will have more stability. This will also prevent some over whipping.
- Coat the bottom of the prepared pan with about a 1/4-inch-thick layer of the cream. Line the outside of the pan with the cookies. Spread a layer of the cream on each cookie and layer them together in the pan. You should end up with about 3 rows of cookies and cream. This may vary slightly depending on how large your cookies are. Cover the top with more of the cream, so the cookies are completely covered. Refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Invert the icebox cake onto a serving platter.
Coffee Whipped Cream
- Heat the cream to simmer, add the broken coffee beans, allow to steep for 15-30 minutes (depending on how strong you like it), strain and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Whip when ready to decorate the icebox cake. Decorate the icebox cake as you wish. I used a rose tip for my decoration on top.
Notes
*or skip this step and buy pre-made wafer cookies. Just be sure to buy 2 boxes since some are bound to be broken.
**use a very dark cocoa or your cookies will not come out the classic color. You can even do a portion of black cocoa, but only a couple of tablespoons in place of the regular, or it is too bitter.
***In my icebox cake instagram video I added a bit of coffee to the mix and did the outer layer of cream with coffee beans.
**use a very dark cocoa or your cookies will not come out the classic color. You can even do a portion of black cocoa, but only a couple of tablespoons in place of the regular, or it is too bitter.
***In my icebox cake instagram video I added a bit of coffee to the mix and did the outer layer of cream with coffee beans.