No-Bake Fridge Cake
(and a birthday cake marathon)
Hi friends and Happy Friday! So glad you are here with me. It’s always good to spend time together.
We are halfway through Oven Evasion Month. August is the hottest month of the year in Southern California so we are on a mission to avoid heating up the kitchen. Previous oven evasion recipes have included Waffle Iron Zucchini Frittatas and Fresh Vietnamese-style Summer Rolls. If you haven’t made these yet, please give them a try!
Next week’s recipe is an easy one-pot meal made entirely in the rice cooker and is exclusively for paid subscribers.
Looking to give your eyes a rest? I read the article to you in the audio link above.
Before we talk about this week’s recipe, let’s take a sneak peek at September. I know, it’s hard to believe the “-ber” months of autumn are on their way.
What’s Ahead in September
Do you remember our 4-Week Cooking Habit from this past spring? You know, the entire month that was menu planned with recipes and shopping lists? We will be doing this again in September.
What does this mean exactly?
Every Friday in September, you, dear subscriber, will receive a menu plan! Each week’s newsletter will include a menu plan with recipes and a shopping list. This gives you the weekend to grocery shop. Then you get to start the following Monday knowing what you are having for dinner that week, with recipes at the ready, and all the ingredients you’ll need.
Free subscribers continue to receive one recipe a week plus the menu plan.
Paid subscribers have access to all the recipes, the menu plan, and a printable shopping list.
The lineup of dishes that we are going to cook together next month is looking yummy-licious. I can’t wait to share it with you!
This week we are indulging our sweet tooth with a cake that requires no baking. With only three ingredients, it is so simple to put together but is plush and satisfying.
But first, a story about birthday cakes.
Birthday Cake Marathon
Do you have a birthday cake tradition in your family? Every summer I bake (and eat!) four birthday cakes within the span of six weeks. Our three children all have summertime birthdays as do I, so from June to August it is a birthday cake marathon.
Because I grew up with a mom who made beautiful birthday cakes each year for me and my brother, I wanted to do the same for my children. My piping and decorating skillz are not nearly as good as my mom’s, but I’ve had fun planning and baking their cakes every year.
When the kids were wee ones, the cakes featured Barney (yes, the purple dinosaur), Barbie, and Curious George. Eventually their interests and taste preferences came to the forefront with dairy-free cakes with meringue, Scouting campfire themes, and cakes with chocolate hazelnut buttercream.
Now that they are all over 21 years old, I’ve started to include some other ingredients, namely booze. We’ve enjoyed a margarita cake (tequila, lime, coconut) and a chocolate raspberry Chambord cake, among others. Plus there’s the one my daughter and I still giggle about: drunk Barbie cake.
This summer, I baked three cakes instead of four since my eldest son moved to Portugal this past spring. I considered baking and shipping one to him but thought better of it.
As for the cakes I did make, they all had a black and white colorway.
Thanks for coming along for the ride down birthday cake memory lane. Are you ready for a slice of cake now? Me too, so let’s get to this week’s recipe.
Recipe
No-Bake Fridge Cake
Serves 6-ish
Time needed: 40 minutes plus chilling time
Creamy, plush, and not overly sweet! This cake requires just three ingredients and absolutely zero cook time. It needs to chill for a few hours but if you make it mid-morning, you can enjoy it for late afternoon tea time.
Lotus brand Biscoff cookies are what I used, but this would work with any kind of thin, crunchy cookie. Good alternatives are gingersnaps, Nilla wafers, graham crackers, or even Oreo Thins! Some subs for the Biscoff cookie butter are any cookie or nut butters with a stiffer consistency such as Skippy peanut butter (natural nut butters are too loose).
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided use
1/2 cup Biscoff cookie butter (creamy or crunchy, up to you)
2 pkgs (8.8 oz each) Biscoff cookies
Directions:
Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving two or three inches of overhang all around. Set aside.
Tip 1 cup of the heavy cream into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until the cream is billowy with soft peaks, about 3 to 4 minutes. Watch carefully that you do not overbeat because the cream will split and you will regret everything. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and place in the fridge.
Pour the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream into the stand mixer bowl and add the cookie butter. Beat together until soft peaks form. This won’t take long, about 3-ish minutes.
It’s time to assemble the cake! Here is how I layered it as you see in the photos. Spread a thin layer of plain whipped cream in the bottom of the loaf pan. Place a single layer of cookies on the cream. Add more plain whipped cream and spread to the edges of the cookies. Add another layer of cookies. Now, spread 1/2 of the Biscoff whipped cream and spread over the cookies. Repeat with plain whipped cream, cookies, Biscoff cream, and cookies. The last layer is cookies from edge to edge.
Now, if that explanation gave you a huge headache, just know that you can layer this however you want. The formula is basically sandwiching cookies between whipped cream layers with the last layer being cookies. The cake will be flipped upside down onto a plate once it has chilled, so keep that it mind.
Loosely cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and place the pan in the fridge for at least 5 hours. An overnight chill is totally fine if you are making it ahead.
To serve, remove the loose covering of plastic or foil. Place a plate or serving platter on top of the loaf pan and carefully flip it over. Remove the loaf pan and peel off the plastic wrap lining. Garnish with 3 or 4 crushed cookies to make it pretty. Or not. Cut the cake crossways into six generous slices or eight reasonable ones. Leftovers keep for 2-ish days in the fridge.
Tell Me
What are your family birthday cake traditions? I’d love to hear what you make.
Next week: Oven Evasion month continues with a one-pot meal made entirely in a rice cooker. Seriously! See you next Friday.
Wow, look at how profesh that baked Alaska, zebra and that smores cupcake looks like it came out of the Sprinkles cupcake shop! Taking orders? 😁
Your birthday cakes are AMAZING! Tom did make me a "Mounds" cake for a "big" birthday for me and it was unbelievably good...and pretty, too. What a terrific tradition.