Chocolate-Butterscotch Icebox Cake
- Total Time
- 3 hours, plus overnight chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 12 servings
- 1½sticks/170 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 1cup, plus 2 tablespoons/230 grams granulated sugar
- 1egg yolk
- 2tablespoons/30 milliliters milk
- 1teaspoon/5 milliliters vanilla extract
- ¾teaspoon/3 grams baking powder
- ¾teaspoon/5 grams kosher salt
- 1½cups/190 grams all-purpose flour
- ¾cup/88 grams unsweetened cocoa, preferably Dutch-process
- ½cup/100 grams firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 2tablespoons/30 milliliters maple syrup
- 2tablespoons/28 grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- Pinch kosher salt
- 3½cups/840 milliliters cold heavy cream
- 1tablespoon/15 milliliters bourbon
- 1ounce/28 grams semisweet chocolate, for serving
- 1teaspoon/5 milliliters coconut oil, for serving
For the Chocolate Wafers
For the Maple-butterscotch Cream
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
685 calories; 50 grams fat; 31 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 60 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 40 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 263 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Make the Chocolate Wafers
- Step 1
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract; mix until smooth. Whisk together baking powder, salt, flour and cocoa, then add to mixer bowl and mix until combined. Roll into a 10-inch-long log, wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
- Step 2
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice dough into ⅛-inch rounds and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. You should have about 48 cookies. Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool.
Make the Maple-butterscotch Cream
- Step 3
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, maple syrup, butter and salt. Stir continuously until mixture is combined and sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking without stirring until mixture bubbles, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in ½ cup cream, then stir in bourbon. Let butterscotch cool completely.
- Step 4
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine remaining 3 cups cold cream and the butterscotch. Whisk until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.
Assemble the Cake
- Step 5
Divide wafers into six batches, about eight cookies per batch. On a serving platter, arrange one batch of cookies into a heart shape, breaking into pieces to fill in gaps if necessary. Top wafers with about 1¼ cups butterscotch cream, smoothing into a heart shape with an offset spatula. Repeat layers until cookies and cream are finished, ending with a layer of cream. (There may be extra cookies and cream; build the cake higher if you like.) Cover with plastic wrap and chill cake in the refrigerator until cold, at least 1 hour, before decorating the top.
Decorate the Cake
- Step 6
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Stir in coconut oil. Let chocolate cool until lukewarm but still fluid. Drizzle over cold cake. Return cake to the refrigerator and let sit overnight or up to 2 days before serving.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Susan
What about just using Nabisco's chocolate wafers?
irene
I never comment on this website, but cannot believe that no one has extolled the virtues of this recipe! It is absolutely fantastic, or more to the point, "scrummy". Very easy to make, keeps well, beautiful presentation. A show stopper for any occasion! Best to use a dark cocoa mix for the wafers, readily available from King Arthur Flour (they have a black cocoa or a black cocoa mix).
RL
If you want to enhance the maple syrup flavor, go with grade B. You'll never go back to grade A.
George Grumbach
Ok, you could spend a couple of hours making this, or you can't spend 20 minutes making the classic original, and avoid guilding the lily. Get a box of Nabisco Famous chocolate wafers and a pint of heavy cream. Use some sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla according to the recipe on the box. In no time you will have made the original icebox cake of pure chocolate and vanilla flavors. I think you will agree that maple syrup and brown sugar are distractions.
David Bonfiglio
Isn't the whole point of an ice box cake that there's no baking? Buy the cookies.
Wendy
We had a dinner party where brisket was the star, lobster mac-n-cheese was the co-star, and this luscious dessert was the finale´. I used about half the sugar it calls for, as I don't like a super sweet dessert, and people inhaled it. It's very easy to make, you just have to remember to time it so that you have it ready for when you serve it.
Jennie Allen
They've changed the grading system for syrup so now it's extra dark amber.
Anita
Sorry to hear this -- I hate those cooking disasters, especially on a special occasion. Seems a shame not to try again, though -- I'm wondering whether the butterscotch was not cool enough? That will make a mess of whipped cream.
Anyway, I like this variation on an old fashioned (50's, I think) treat we used to make. Store bought choc wafers, spread with whipped cream and put together in a log. Refrigerate and slice on diagonal for nifty stripes. (These cookies are better!)
Barbara Greenberg
It's because you should add the butterscotch to the cream before you whip it, not after the cream has been whipped.
A Reader
Re: making this type of cake for animals: dogs should avoid consumption of chocolate products because chocolate can harm the canine liver. Thank you.
George Grumbach
Absolutely. And forget the maple syrup, brown sugar, bourbon and Coconut oil. Life is too short.
Joan
Pay no attention to those who say to forgo the butterscotch and make a plain old vanilla ice box cake - if you didn’t want to try the butterscotch, you probably wouldn’t click on this recipe. The butterscotch whipped cream is BOMB and takes this next level. I took the shortcut of using Nabisco chocolate wafers - no harm! And as others have noted, cool the butterscotch completely then add to a bowl with unbeaten heavy cream and beat it all together - it works that way! So good!
Sage
DO NOT MAKE
The cookies were the easy part. The cream turned into a huge mess. It was all fluffy and nice until the butterscotch was added. Then it turned into a curdled disaster. It was impossible to fix even with extra heavy cream. Not impressed at all. COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME! And we tried making this on Valentines day. So disappointed. Now we have all of these cookies, and a liquidy mess.
m
When is your next dinner party? :)
Melissa
In our house, it's traditional to make the Nabisco's chocolate wafer plus sweetened whipped cream (sometimes with melted chocolate added) "cake" for animal birthdays. They want cake (okay, we humans want cake) but it's not worth turning on the oven, etc. Plus children do a wonderful job of creating charming shapes with cookies and cream.
RR
This recipe was terrific great make ahead dessert or cake made 2 days ahead for my sons birthday. Would suggest next time using the circle of a unclipped cake tin to structure the cake around it was hard to do a heart.
paula cohn
Personally, I think this recipe has much more flavor if you use only 2 cups heavy cream. You still have quite a lot of mixture and the flavor is not so diluted. And we should all bless Nabisco for their Famous Chocolate Wafers; so much time saved and no sacrifice in taste. (I just wish they were easier to find.)
next time…
NABISCO chocolate wafers, and spring form
Andrea
Three great reasons to make this easy chocolate wafer recipe instead of buying a box of anything: 1. Read & compare ingredients here with the ones in a box. 2. Make the dough in parchment into any shape - I made rectangles. You can make up any icebox cake or filled cookies with these wafers. Creativity is fun! 3. And…They are delicious!!! Add just a pinch of kosher salt. 5 grams was too much.
Lily
Made this with classic whipped cream (only very slightly sweetened) rather than butterscotch. It felt fresh and light but still decadent! Added an extra pinch of salt to the cookies and it was perfect.
cf
My assembly needed help. Used nabisco wafers (2 packs). Super yummy and decadent :)
Wendy
If you don't want to make the wafer cookies, and you can't find them in the store, we found a great substitute is Tate's Bakeshop cookies. We like the chocolate chip ones, but they make a chocolate chocolate chip cookie that would also be great in this AMAZING recipe.
Stacy E.
I made the butterscotch and whipped cream almost exactly as written. I was short 1 cup of heavy cream, so I softened about a cup of chocolate ice cream and whipped it in with the cream and butterscotch. I subbed Lattemielle Slightly Sweet Milk & Honey cookies from Trader Joe's to avoid having to turn on the oven. Very, very happy with the result! I'll have to try this again when the weather cools and I won't mind baking cookies.
Apopp
This is my new special occasion dessert. So easy but tastes impressive!
Joan
Pay no attention to those who say to forgo the butterscotch and make a plain old vanilla ice box cake - if you didn’t want to try the butterscotch, you probably wouldn’t click on this recipe. The butterscotch whipped cream is BOMB and takes this next level. I took the shortcut of using Nabisco chocolate wafers - no harm! And as others have noted, cool the butterscotch completely then add to a bowl with unbeaten heavy cream and beat it all together - it works that way! So good!
jalway13
What could I use as a substitute for the bourbon?
Stacy E.
I had an open bottle of Beirao, a sweet and fruity liqueur from Portugal, on hand and added that. Thought it tasted lovely. I'd stick with something fruity, sweet or both since it's added at the end and isn't actually cooked with the butterscotch.
M.kauffman
I make this cake every valentine’s day & it always comes out great...follow the recipe exactly, EXCEPT, of course I use Nabisco famous chocolate wafers, one box is perfect, use 3 tbls maple syrup, 2 tbls bourbon to bump up the whipped cream flavor, & yes you will have lots extra whipped cream...maybe it’s my electric mixer, but it takes 5-6 minutes on high for stiff peaks...also just a few hours in the refrigerator after decorating & it’s good to go...
And old fave, but...
Waaaaaay too much whipped cream!
SharonATX
This was absolutely delicious and was relatively easy to make over the course of a couple days. We used black cocoa for the cookies and "built" the cake in an 8" springform, but would recommend a 9 or 10" for others since we had plenty of leftovers. Make sure to slice your cookies really thin and let your butterscotch cool COMPLETELY before whipping with the cream. The picture included isn't accurate since the cream will have a more caramel color. Melissa FTW, as usual.
Marnie F.
This was a huge success as a birthday cake. I made it into a circle on a round plate and it was perfect. I used a little less whipping cream than called for, an unnecessary frugality. I would and will make this many times again especially for people who aren't cake lovers.
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