Social Hit! Ice Box Cake: Retro Ad & Recipe

I just love the Baker Ads and recipes from the 30s and 40s, especially the 'story' ads. This one if about "How 'That Little Mrs. Bundy' got to be 'Such Friends' with the Banker's Wife." This Chocolate Ice Box Cake 'broke the ice' and cemented their friendship.. but why would she want to be friends with someone this 'stiff and snobbish'? Nevertheless, Mrs. Bundy sure was a 'social hit!' This Ice Box (no bake) cake is still terrific in 2020, and you won't be heating up the kitchen!

CHOCOLATE ICEBOX CAKE 

Ingredients
1 package Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate, melted
1-1/2 Tbsp water
1 egg yolk, unbeaten
1 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 egg white, stiffly beaten
12 ladyfinger halves

Directions
Blend melted chocolate with water. Add egg yolk and beat until smooth. Mix in sugar.
Whip cream and fold into chocolate.
Fold in beaten egg white.
Line 8 x 4 x 3-inch loaf pan with wax paper.
Layer wafers with chocolate mixture.
Chill overnight.
Unmold.

Serves 5
   
Really - 5? Would that be the parents and 3 children? or the Banker's Wife?

CHOCOLATE RICOTTA ICEBOX CAKE for Labor Day!

This Chocolate Ricotta Icebox Cake is perfect for Labor Day. Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart (2006), this Icebox Cake is great to make for a cookout. It's egg-less, so no worries about raw eggs in this dessert. Let your refrigerator do the baking! This cake is labor and egg free!

Love this Retro Refrigerator Ad from the 30s. I imagine your 'icebox' is a bit more up-to-date.

Chocolate Ricotta Icebox Cake

Ingredients
14 ounces dark chocolate (55-70% cacoa) - do not use chocolate chips
30 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup heavy cream
9 ounces chocolate wafers

Directions

Prepare pan:
Line 9″ springform pan with plastic wrap (or waxpaper) so that it completely covers bottom and sides of pan. Allow 4″ overhang over the sides of the pan (you'll fold this over the top the cake as it chills).

Make Chocolate Ricotta Mixture:
Break 12 ounces of chocolate into pieces.
Place in heatproof medium bowl set over pan of simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until chocolate has melted, 8 to 10 minutes.
In food processor, blend ricotta until very smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl.
Add warm chocolate; blend until smooth.
In large bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form.
With a rubber spatula, gently fold in chocolate-ricotta mixture.

Assemble cake:
Arrange half the cookies in an overlapping pattern to cover bottom of pan. Spoon half the chocolate-ricotta mixture on top of cookies; smooth top. Cover with remaining cookies; top with remaining chocolate-ricotta mixture, and smooth top.
Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.
Before serving, using a vegetable peeler, shave remaining 2 ounces chocolate over top of cake (or just eat the two ounces of chocolate)

Mexican Chocolate Kahlua Ice Box Cake

Vintage Ice Box Cake Pan

Cinco de Mayo is coming up, and I have a Mexican Chocolate Ice Box Cake to add to my growing list of Mexican chocolate recipes. This recipe, originally from the 60s, was 'found' by the Baltimore Sun for a reader.  I've changed a few things, and you might want to, too. I used Taza Mexican Chocolate. I cut down a bit on the sugar, too, but maybe not enough for your palette. If you use unsweetened chocolate, you can add more sugar. You can always cut off the tops of the lady fingers, but I like the way they look the way they are. Love this no bake cake. No eggs, so no worries, either. And, in case you don't know, an ice box was a large wooden box, zinc or tin-lined, with a compartment for big blocks of ice and an area with shelves for storing perishables. Starting in the early 20th century they were called refrigerators, but make no doubt about it, they were not mechanized or electrified.


Mexican Chocolate Kahlua Icebox Cake

Ingredients
60 ladyfingers (Trader Joe's .. but there are other brands)
2-3/4 cups chilled whipping cream
4 ounces Taza Mexican chocolate (but feel free to use any very dark chocolate)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 tsp Mexican vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ounce semisweet chocolate (grated)
1/4 cup or more Kahlua

Directions
Brush ladyfingers with Kahlua. Line bottom of 9-inch diameter springform pan with ladyfingers. Line sides of pan with ladyfingers, standing ladyfingers side by side with the rounded side facing out.
Stir 3/4 cup whipping cream, chocolate, and 1/4 cup granulated sugar in heavy saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Remove saucepan from heat and cool to room temperature.
Using electric mixer, beat powdered sugar, butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in large bowl until blended. Beat in cooled chocolate mixture.
Combine remaining 2 cups cream, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and cinnamon in another large bowl. Using clean dry beaters, beat until firm peaks form. Fold half of whipped cream mixture into chocolate mixture.
Spread half chocolate filling into ladyfinger-lined pan. Top with layer of ladyfingers, then remaining chocolate filling.
Pipe or spread whipped cream mixture over filling. Sprinkle with grated semisweet chocolate.
Refrigerate until firm, at least three hours. Can be made one day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated. Remove pan sides from cake and serve.

Mexican Chocolate Ice Box Cake

Vintage Ice Box Cake Pan

Cinco de Mayo is coming up, and I have a Mexican Chocolate Ice Box Cake to add to my growing list of Mexican chocolate recipes. This recipe, originally from the 60s, was 'found' by the Baltimore Sun for a reader.  I've changed a few things, and you might want to, too. I used Taza Mexican Chocolate. I cut down a bit on the sugar, too, but maybe not enough for your palette. If you use unsweetened chocolate, you can add more sugar. I'm pretty sure this icebox cake recipe is a variation on a Bon Appetit Recipe (without Kahlua). You can always cut off the tops of the lady fingers, but I like the way they look the way they are. Love this no bake cake. No eggs, so no worries, either.

Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cake

Ingredients
60 ladyfingers (Trader Joe's .. but there are other brands)
2-3/4 cups chilled whipping cream
4 ounces Taza Mexican chocolate/but feel free to use any very dark chocolate.
1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup powdered sugar, (plus 2 tablespoons)
1/2 cup sweet butter (room temperature)
2 teaspoons Mexican vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 ounce semisweet chocolate (grated)
1/4 cup or more Kahlua

Directions
Brush ladyfingers with Kahlua. Line bottom of 9-inch diameter springform pan with ladyfingers. Line sides of pan with ladyfingers, standing ladyfingers side by side with the rounded side facing out.
Stir 3/4 cup whipping cream, chocolate and 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a heavy saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Remove saucepan from heat and cool to room temperature.
Using electric mixer, beat powdered sugar, butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla in large bowl until blended. Beat in cooled chocolate mixture.
Combine remaining 2 cups cream, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and cinnamon in another large bowl. Using clean dry beaters, beat until firm peaks form. Fold half of whipped cream mixture into chocolate mixture.
Spread half chocolate filling into ladyfinger-lined pan. Top with layer of ladyfingers, then remaining chocolate filling.
Pipe or spread whipped cream mixture over filling. Sprinkle with grated semisweet chocolate.
Refrigerate until firm, at least three hours. Can be made one day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated. Remove pan sides from cake and serve.