AuthorHeather WallaceCategorycakeDifficultyBeginnerIndulge in this rich, but incredibly light and airy dessert on hot summer days when you don't want to turn on the oven.
Any recipe from Ina Garten is pretty much guaranteed to be a success...this one is no exception! This is my review of her Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake that is absolutely a chocolate lover's dream...
I get a lot of my inspiration from Ina, and have taken a lot of her recipes as a base and adjusted ingredients or tweaked it here and there to create my own recipes. She is to me, the queen of the kitchen and I just love her recipes. This one definitely deserves a shout out.
The mascarpone cheese and Kahlua give it a Tiramisu taste but is also very different at the same time because of the chocolate chip cookies.
A few tips:
Ina suggests using Tate's Bake Shop chocolate chip cookies, but I used Chips Ahoy which still turned out good but I believe that the next time I make this I will try using the Tate's ones to give it a little better flavor. You could also bake your own cookies but that would defeat the no-bake benefit.
Use thin, crispy cookies to give a little texture to the cake and to allow the cream to be the star of the recipe.
Make sure your mascarpone cheese is room temperature so that it whips better with the heavy cream and won't separate while whipping.
All in all, my review is that this is a super easy, but delicious dessert that will taste like you spent a lot of time making....it will be our little secret that you didn't. 🙂
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine 12 ounces mascarpone cheese, 2 cups of cold heavy cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup coffee liqueur (I used Kahlua), 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (not instant coffee).
Start by whisking on low speed so that the heavy cream doesn't splatter all over the place.
Slowly raise the speed until stiff peaks form.
Arrange chocolate chip cookies one layer at a time into an 8-9 inch springform pan covering the bottom of the pan. You may have to break some cookies apart to fill in gaps.
You will use about 2 1/2 packages of thin chocolate chip cookies for the whole recipe.
Spread a fifth of the mocha cream on top of the first layer of cookies.
Place another layer of cookies on top, followed by another fifth of the mocha cream.
Continue to layer with cookies and cream until you have five layers of each, ending with a layer of the cream on top.
Smooth the top and cover with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate overnight.
When ready to serve, run a knife along the side of the springform pan to loosen edges. Remove the sides of the pan.
Microwave a bar of semi-sweet or milk chocolate for a few seconds to soften it, then take a vegetable peeler and shave onto the top of the cake to garnish.
Cut into pieces and serve cold.
Ingredients
Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine 12 ounces mascarpone cheese, 2 cups of cold heavy cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup coffee liqueur (I used Kahlua), 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (not instant coffee).
Start by whisking on low speed so that the heavy cream doesn't splatter all over the place.
Slowly raise the speed until stiff peaks form.
Arrange chocolate chip cookies one layer at a time into an 8-9 inch springform pan covering the bottom of the pan. You may have to break some cookies apart to fill in gaps.
You will use about 2 1/2 packages of thin chocolate chip cookies for the whole recipe.
Spread a fifth of the mocha cream on top of the first layer of cookies.
Place another layer of cookies on top, followed by another fifth of the mocha cream.
Continue to layer with cookies and cream until you have five layers of each, ending with a layer of the cream on top.
Smooth the top and cover with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate overnight.
When ready to serve, run a knife along the side of the springform pan to loosen edges. Remove the sides of the pan.
Microwave a bar of semi-sweet or milk chocolate for a few seconds to soften it, then take a vegetable peeler and shave onto the top of the cake to garnish.
Cut into pieces and serve cold.