This No Bake Black Forest Icebox Cake is an easy no bake dessert that is perfect for summer! Just FOUR ingredients + video!
An icebox cake is absolutely a cheater cake, but when a cheater cake looks this good, does anyone care?
I feel like at this point in all of our lives, we can use some easy and delicious baking and no-baking projects. Anyone else feel the same?
Icebox cakes are great for any occasion, and this Black Forest version really is a showstopper!
This No Bake Funfetti Icebox Cake, this No Bake Pumpkin Pie Icebox Cake, and this No Bake Lemon Raspberry Icebox Cake are other versions I know you’ll love as well!
This Black Forest Icebox Cake is just 4 ingredients — 3 if you skip the homemade whipped cream and use frozen whipped topping, which is great for storing for longer periods of time if you’re not making grocery runs often!
For this reason, it’s perfect when you have just 10 minutes to spare but feel like you might need a slice of cake later to get you through the day.
It’s also a really fun baking project to do with the kids, because there’s no cutting, no baking, no heat of any kind, which means that they can just have fun whipping and layering and spreading and you reap all the benefits later.
Tips for making the best Icebox Cake:
- If you’re making your own whipped cream, be sure to whip it until you have very stiff peaks. It should be very thick!
- Whipped cream doesn’t hold up for days on end. If using fresh whipped cream, I recommend serving as soon as possible after it has set. After that, you may get another day before your whipped cream starts to droop. If you want to store it for longer or make it further in advance, it’s a good idea to stabilize your whipped cream. You can do this by adding unflavored gelatin that has been dissolved in warm water according to the package directions. I would use 1/2-1 package of unflavored gelatin for this recipe.
- The chill is important. If you don’t allow adequate time for chilling, the cookies won’t soften, and your cake won’t set.
- You can make this icebox cake in almost any pan. I used a round 9″ Springform pan, but you could use an 8-9″ round pan, or an 8-9″ square pan or a deep dish pie plate. I chose to use a springform pan so I could remove the sides and display all those glorious layers! Using a springform pan also makes it easier to slice and serve.
Variations on this Black Forest Icebox Cake:
- Use different flavors of pie filling in place of the cherry
- Use vanilla wafer cookies or graham crackers in place of the chocolate
- Add a half package of room temperature cream cheese to your whipped cream — beat the cream cheese first in the bowl, then add the cream and beat until thickened, and add the sugar and beat to stiff peaks.
- You could add a spoonful of cocoa powder to the whipped cream for chocolate whipped cream
*This post has been updated and republished since the original in January 2016.
No Bake Black Forest Icebox Cake
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 2 packages chocolate wafer cookies or chocolate graham crackers (about 300g)
- 1 can cherry pie filling (540ml or 2 cups)
- 2 cups heavy whipped cream (or substitute frozen whipped topping, thawed, and omit sugar)
- 1/2 cup powdered icing sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat cream and powdered sugar on high speed until stiff peaks form. *See my notes above for stabilizing whipped cream if keeping for longer periods of time*
- Place one layer of chocolate wafer cookies in a 9" Springform pan, breaking to fit or overlapping somewhat is fine. Top with about ⅓ of whipped cream and ⅓ of the cherry pie filling.
- Repeat layers two more times for 3 layers total.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight. Garnish with additional whipped cream if desired, slice and serve.
Nutrition Information
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Sandra elliott says
How
Much whipped
Topping
Do you sub for the whipping
Cream?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Sandra! You’ll need 4 cups. Hope this helps!
Linda Hail says
I’m curious as to what cookie wafer did you use as I can’t find what I think you’re referring to? Could you refer to a brand name you used or a picture of such?
Plz n Thx, Linda
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Linda, any thin chocolate cookie (or wafers as we call these particular cookies in Canada). Some brands would be Goya, Nabisco, Dewey’s Bakery to name a few. Take a look in the video and you’ll see what the wafers look like. Hope this helps!
Sofia Silva says
Hello! Great recipe!
2 quick questions:
1- what is exactly half a pack of cream cheese? 200, 500 gr?…
2- if I use the cream cheese do you still recommend the gelatin?
Thanks 😊
Ashley Fehr says
There is no cream cheese or gelatin in this recipe so I’m not sure what your question is referring to
Sofia says
😳 yes I’m aware they’re not in the recipe but both were mentioned as variations and options. It’s a bit vague, especially the cream cheese quantity hence my question.
You might want to reread your own text before you reply like that.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m aware and I often offer variations so people can have fun with a recipe. They are not part of the recipe, so you can just throw in WHATEVER AMOUNT of cream cheese you want, and see what happens 🙂 It’s to experiment for fun, if you want to. I haven’t tested the recipe 100 different ways, but I offer you suggestions if you want to.
Kristian baker says
No you silly goose
Corinne says
Hi Ashley. We can’t wait to try this! Can we use chocolate cookie crumbs? If so should I add anything to them? We can’t find chocolate cookie wafers or chocolate graham wafers right now and aren’t going to the grocery store that often. I have bags of crumbs to use tho!
Carolynn Wiens says
The crumbs work well as a base… similar to cheesecake. But they don’t work well for the layers. You need something with stability so the cake holds its shape when unmolded. However, you could do tjus as a parfait kind of thing. Same ingredients but as individual servings in a glass (sundae glass, wine glass, parfait glass, etc.). Because it is served in the container, you could use the crumbs instead of cookies.
Kimberly says
Oh I love how easy this is and yet it looks so fancy! Making this pronto!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Kimberly!
Krissy Allori says
This is so easy to make and tastes so great! We are getting warmer weather these days and I can just see having this at our next BBQ. Yummy!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Krissy!