Dine and Dish

Food blog with family recipes

Cravings – Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake

iceboxcakewhole.jpg
Crave: to want greatly : to yearn for: to have a strong or inward desire
Oh, I know all about cravings. Cravings are getting up in the middle of the night to make scones because you cannot get them out your mind.  Cravings are my 13 year old nephew walking one and a half miles to the grocery store to get butter just so his mom would make him these cookies. Cravings are my friend taking a flight out to California simply to curb her desire for an In-N-Out burger. Cravings are driving to 5 different grocery stores when gas is $3.25 a gallon to find the chocolate wafers called for in the Magnolia Bakery Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake recipe.

Yes, I know all about cravings and the strong pull they have over some of us. My craving for the Magnolia Bakery Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake started a few years ago when I saw a photo and the recipe featured in O Magazine. The craving later intensified when Deb over at Smitten Kitchen wrote a post about this cake. Her featured photos had me drooling on my computer keyboard. Somehow, I have managed to keep pushing this craving aside. I really, really wanted to try it, but the craving was not so strong that I had to give in. It was not so strong until this past week when I was browsing through the blog of fellow Just Baking writer, Jennifer McHenry of Bake or Break. I was clicking and scrolling around when a big, beautiful picture of the Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake popped up on my screen. It was at that moment that I hit my breaking point. I could not stand to go another day without making this cake.
Since this cake needed to be refrigerated overnight, I knew I had to get busy with assembly pronto. As soon as my husband got home, I told him I had to make a quick run to the grocery store. I ended up driving to five different grocery stores before I finally found the chocolate wafers. A couple of hours later when I walked in the door, I got the “where the hell have you been??” look from my husband. A quick run to the grocery store typically doesn’t mean returning home 2 hours later. In silence, I took out the chocolate wafers and showed them to my husband. Then, I took him to my computer and pulled up the photos of the cake. Silently, with craving in his own eyes, he nodded in agreement, understanding my absence and then left me to my assembly work.
This cake is deceptively easy to put together and it is a definite show stopper. It is one of those desserts that when you put it in front of people, all of the talking stops…eyes get big and mouths drop in awe.  This dessert is delicious and rich and perfect for an indoor summer gathering. Next time I make it, I will be adding some Grand Mariner to the cream mixture just to make it that much more crave worthy.
This delicious creation is my entry for the June 2007 Sugar High Friday event. The theme this month is The Sweetest Thing and it is all about those desserts that we crave…those that tempt us time after time. I am certain that after this round up, I will have a fair amount of other recipes to add to my growing list of foods I crave to make.

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jerry says

    Oh my god! A tower of goodness! Hmmmm what do I crave that is soo sweet. So going to have to thing about this for Sugar High Friday. Or is it that for a craving you don’t think about it, it just hits you?
    Oh and the whole going to multiple groceries hits all of us. It is so frustrating, but always ends with a sweet reward.

  3. CGCL says

    Too Pretty to eat. It reminds me of a cookie I had this weekend at the bakery. IT was HUGE chocolate wafers and thick cream between that tasted exactly like a grown up version of oreo cookie cream. It was heavenly 🙂

  4. Deborah says

    OK, I have seen this recipe on the same blogs and have been wanting to try it. It is so gorgeous!!

  9. Freya says

    Repeat after me:
    Kristen is a very bad girl!!
    I want to make this dessert but we don’t have those kind of cookies here! Unfortunately, I think I can replicate them with the help of several cookie cookbooks and lots of cream!

  10. katiez says

    It looks like it would be difficult to cut. No matter, when I make it I’ll just eat it all myself, then I won’t have to worry about cutting it.
    I would go to more than 5 shops for this cake!

  13. Nora says

    wow…you are right about that being a real show stopper. I’ll have to bookmark this recipe for the next time someone asks me to make something sweet for a party. Thanks!

  14. My Kitchen in Half Cups says

    Do you really believe this is reasonable? I mean it’s 2 am, I am out of the country and you put that on my screen . . . Mother told me the world isn’t fair and boy was she right!
    Kristen, absolutely terrific writing and great photo!! Way to go girl!

  20. Lynn says

    Wow, what a gorgeous cake! You did a wonderful job on that. And you are definitely blessed to have a husband who understands the importance of the right ingredients to fulfill the cravings. 🙂

  22. connie says

    an excellent entry! i saw this back on Bake or Break and I had an almost sweetness-induced heart attack. And again, this cake… the frosting is just so shockingly fluffy looking.

  28. aria says

    haha i love the cravings, especially waking up in the middle of the night to make scones, hee!

    what have you done to me, this cake looks to die for. an icebox cake will be a 1st for me but it’s a must. YUM.

  29. Dilip says

    I too have cravings and they drive me crazy some times..~smile~…great blog..great post…i love the cake…great