Lemon Icebox Cake
recipe by Sidney Fry MS, RD | photography by Big Dreamz Creative
Ice box cakes are so easy and so good and great for simple summer entertaining. No oven required! They are best made ahead so that all the flavors can meld and soak into each and every sponge-and-cream filled bite. This one is light, bright and brilliant, using only five ingredients! Most ice box cakes are made with loads of heavy cream. Whipped cream is delightful; there’s no denying that. But there’s also no denying the whopping 400 calories per half cup. Here’s our tasty trick: Heavy cream whips beautifully into Greek yogurt, creating a heavenly, fluffy topping that is delicious, light-as-air and every bit as decadent as the original with only half the amount of fat and calories. Lemon curd adds an intensely tart and bright flavor, while graham crackers make for a fun and simple “cake” layer.
Serves 10.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups 2% Greek yogurt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup lemon curd
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
8 whole honey graham crackers
DIRECTIONS
Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, allowing 4 inches of overhang. In a large bowl, beat yogurt and heavy cream until smooth with an electric mixture. Fold in lemon curd, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Fill the prepared pan with lemon cream mixture until it is about an inch from the top. Wedge a whole upright cracker, plus a half, horizontally into the cream along the long side of the pan, placing it so it just slightly off from the side. The cracker should be almost buried in the cream. Continue with remaining crackers, each about a half inch or so away from the other, until almost to the other side of the pan. Top the pan with a layer of lemon cream; wrap cake in plastic wrap. Put any remaining lemon cream in an airtight container. Place cake and lemon cream in the refrigerator for 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.
Uncover and invert the cake onto a plate orserving platter. Remove plastic wrap. Spreada thin coat of remaining lemon cream over the top and sides of the cake. Top with additional lemon zest.
Sidney Fry is a two-time James-Beard-Award-winning food and nutrition writer who loves creating simple, healthy recipes and thoughtful, actionable content for the hungry consumer. A healthy living proactivist, Sidney is also a registered dietitian nutritionist, recipe developer and mama of three based in Birmingham, Alabama.