Dulce de Leche Icebox Cake

Icebox cake... yeah, meaning you don't cook it. 
Perfect for a hot summer.... well, maybe the Pacific Northwest is the only place in the U.S. not having a hot summer, but we can still enjoy a yummy icebox cake. Basically, it's a whipped cream 'filling' layered between thin cookies, then the whole thing is refrigerated and the cookies meld together with the cream to make a light fluffy cake like dessert.  May be better than cheesecake... just sayin'.

I had heard of an Icebox cake, but never had one... kind of a 1950's thing, or something.  I wasn't around in the 50's and my Mom never made this... pity, it's pretty awesome!

Both Ina Garten and Martha Stewart do an Icebox Cake if you want to look up some other ideas for this technique.

I used a can of Dulce de Leche... so fantastically yummy it should probably be against the law.  You can buy Dulce de Leche in the Hispanic section at the grocery store...
or... you... can... make... it. 

It might scare you... it scares lots of people. 

I've done it twice, and I intend to do it again, but it involves simmering an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in water for 2-3 hours. Mine didn't blow up... but really I can't be responsible for yours, in case you do something silly, like letting your pot boil dry.  I will give you the recipe (at the end), because this is some stuff you will want to be able to make to impress everyone who comes in contact with it, but for gawd's sake... be careful!!!

2 cups whip cream
8 oz marscapone, or cream cheese
1 can dulce de leche


2 boxes of crisp, thin cookies like Anna's Swedish Thins Gingersnaps or chocolate wafers

Whip together the cream cheese, the dulce de leche and the whip cream.  Beat on slow until its all mixed and then gradually turn up the mixer.  It takes about 3-5 minutes to get a stiff mixture as the whip cream in the mixtures fluffs up.

In a springform pan, put a double layer of cookies at the bottom (I didn't add quite enough to mine shown in the picture below).  Add about 1/4 to 1/3 of the whip cream mixture.

 

Add more cookies, pressing down on the whip mixture to fill all the gaps and to make a uniform level layer.  Continue as long as you have cookies and whip cream.  Cover with foil and refridergate overnight, or at least 8 hours. 


P.S. I took all my busted up cookies and pulverized them and used them as a decoration on the top.  Not sure it really adds to the aesthetics of the dish or not...

Yum... just sayin'.  You will like this.

 Here's some more flavoring ideas for other versions of Icebox Cake-

• Mocha whip cream and chocolate chip cookies
• Chocolate cream with chocolate wafers cookies
• Peach whip cream, gingersnaps, layers of fresh raspberries, or jam
• Margarita whip cream with thin lime shortbread cookies
• Salted Caramel whip cream and Graham crackers

Homemade Dulce de Leche
In a large dutch oven with a lid, add 1-2 cans of unopened sweetened condensed milk. Remove any labels.  Cover with water and bring to a boil, simmer for 2-3 hours, ensuring that the water level remains OVER the top of the cans.  It takes about 2-3 hours.  It keeps a very long time (unopened) in the fridge.   Here is a link to more info from Wikipedia too.