Mint chocolate icebox cake

As a kid, when someone asked me about my favorite ice cream flavor, my answer was almost always mint chocolate chip. There’s something about the refreshing and cooling flavor of mint paired with dark chocolate that brings me joy, particularly in ice cream form. I previously developed a molten mint chocolate cake recipe, but wanted to create a fun, cold dessert for summer that would pay homage to my favorite ice cream flavor.

This mint chocolate icebox cake tastes like a fudgy brownie meets mint ice cream. It is light, fluffy, and perfectly minty. It is deeply chocolatey and creamy. It’s a little bit crunchy. An icebox cake is essentially layers of cookies and whipped cream that are left to sit overnight until the cookies soften and develop a cake-like texture. Nabisco chocolate wafers were a classic cookie for icebox cake, but they were sadly discontinued a few years ago. There’s no other cookie on the market quite like them: they are thin, have a deep chocolate flavor and a dark color, and are not too sweet, making them perfect for this application. To recreate this flavor, I used a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen intended to replicate the discontinued cookie.

For the cream filling, I wanted something that was light and fluffy but had a little bit of body to it, and which had a prominent mint flavor. All of the mint flavor in this dessert comes from fresh mint, which is chopped with granulated sugar and steeped in warm cream. The cream is then fully chilled and whipped with a small amount of mascarpone to help stabilize it and give it a little bit of extra creaminess and hold. The cake is assembled quickly by alternating between layers of cookies and layers of mint whipped cream. Lastly, since icebox cakes naturally soften in the refrigerator, I wanted to maintain an element of crunch, which is part of what I love so much about mint chocolate chip ice cream. To keep the crunch, I topped the icebox cake with mint chocolate curls.

Overall, this recipe keeps the classic elements of an icebox cake with a few more homemade components, elevating a simple dessert into the perfect dessert for a hot summer’s day.

Mint chocolate icebox cake

Recipe by MoniqueCourse: Cakes and custardsDifficulty: Quick bake

Yields

1

9 x 5-inch cake

Prep time

30

minutes

Bake timeminutes

This mint chocolate icebox cake contains homemade fudgy wafer cookies and a mint infused mascarpone whipped cream for a satisfying and refreshing icebox cake. The cake is topped with mint chocolate curls for added mint flavor and a bit of crunch. This recipe is perfect for mint chocolate chip ice cream lovers.

Ingredients

• 1 batch of chocolate wafer cookies (see note)

• 1/2 cup tightly packed mint leaves

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

• 4 oz mascarpone cheese

• 2 oz dark chocolate with mint (see note)

Instructions

• To a food processor, add the mint leaves and sugar. Pulse until the mint leaves are finely chopped. Place the heavy cream in a small saucepan, and add in the mint sugar mixture. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, bring the mixture to a slight simmer, then cover, remove from the heat and let steep for 20 minutes. Strain out the mint leaves and chill the steeped cream mixture until completely cool, ideally overnight.
• When ready to assemble the icebox cake, line a 9 x 5 loaf pan with plastic wrap.
• Beat the mascarpone on low speed with an electric mixer just to break down the block and fluff it out. Then add the mint-infused cream and beat until stiff peaks form. To assemble, spread a thin layer of whipped topping (about 1/2 cup) along the bottom of the loaf pan. Place one layer of cookies on top. You may need to cut or break some of the cookies to create a complete layer and fill in gaps. Repeat with another layer of cream–this time a thicker layer of about 3/4-1 cup. Continue alternating between cookies and cream until you have reached the top of the loaf pan. You should have about 4 layers of cookies in total. Add the remaining cream in a thin layer at the top. Cover the top with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 12 hours or overnight to allow the cookies to soften.
• Before serving, flip the loaf pan out onto a platter. Slowly remove the plastic wrap. To top the dessert, you can either chop up some mint chocolate to sprinkle on top or you can use a vegetable peeler along the sides of a chocolate bar to create chocolate curls. The chocolate should be at room temperature for this. If your kitchen is very hot, then you may need to chill the chocolate for a few minutes beforehand. Top with the chocolate curls and refrigerate until ready to eat. The dessert will last loosely covered in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Notes

• Since the Nabisco chocolate wafers are discontinued, I used a dupe recipe from America’s Test Kitchen (but added 1 tsp of espresso powder). King Arthur also has a good recipe for this.
• For the mint chocolate, I used Moser Roth from Aldi. Lindt also sells a mint chocolate or if you can’t find those, you can chop up some Andes mints for the top.

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