I’m the mom of girls. Not girly-girls, mind you. They seem to be more of the sporty-tomboyish ilk. But I can’t resist making them pink birthday cake for their birthdays. The type of cake that’s so sweet and cute, it conjures up images of fluffy white lap dogs, unicorns, and rainbows. Pink Lemonade Icebox Cake fits the bill perfectly.
The Origins of Icebox
The “icebox” in the name gives you a hint at how long this recipe has been around. Around World War I, the food industry started creating packaged foods like cookies and Cool Whip, that–coupled with the new technique of printing the recipe on the packaging–gave rise to this easy, no-bake “cake.” You could put it in the “icebox” (refrigeration had yet to be invented) and be done with it. Et voilá! A new genre of desserts was born.
Like similar no-bake cakes, this one starts with a cookie crust. In this case, golden Oreos do the trick.
Crumble them, then mix with a stick of melted butter, and press into a pan lined with parchment paper.
In a bowl, combine pink lemonade from concentrate, Cool Whip, cream cheese, condensed milk and a few drops of red food coloring. Then fill the pan.
And freeze for at least four hours or until set.
You can control the density of the cake by two things: how “thawed” the Cool Whip is, and how much you fold all the ingredients together.
Thawed, unfrozen Cool Whip + minimal mixing or light folding = fluffier texture.
Slightly frozen Cool Whip (you can even break some into chunks) + more mixing = denser texture.
Guess which one I did?
I had stored my Cool Whip in the freezer and was too impatient to let it thaw all the way, so I waited until it was almost half thawed and broke off the rest into chunks and prepared the cake as per instruction. The result? The cake has bits of Cool Whip “pockets.” Yum.
For even more cuteness, top off the cake with a dollop of whipped cream and a slice of lemon.
Awwwweeee! How cute is that?! Perfect for my sweet lil’ dumplings. Here’s a tip though…even they can’t stand too much cuteness, so when you go to make your slices, err on the small side. This cake packs a tart and sweet punch, and the cookie crust has even more sugary sweetness, so have a glass of milk handy.
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Ingredients
- 24 Golden Oreos crushed (half of a package)
- 1/2 cup 1 stick salted butter, softened
- 8 oz cream cheese brick softened
- 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 6 oz frozen pink lemonade concentrate thawed
- 8 oz Cool Whip thawed
- 8 drops of red food coloring
Instructions
- About 30 minutes before preparing, take out the Cool Whip, lemonade concentrate to thaw, and butter and cream cheese to soften.
- When ready to prepare, line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper. Crush Oreo cookies in a bag with a roller until coarsely ground.
- Mix the ground cookies and the softened butter in a bowl.
- Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Using a hand mixer (or better yet, stand mixer) beat the softened cream cheese, condensed milk, and lemonade concentrate for 1-2 minutes.
- Add 8 drops of red food coloring. Mix well.
- Fold in the Cool Whip.
- Pour mixture over the crust and put in the freezer for four hours or until set.
- When ready to enjoy, take out, thaw to preference (but not too long or it will get melty), cut into squares and serve.
Recipe adapted from Taste of Lizzy T.
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