How Ina Garten Puts Her Signature Twist On Classic Icebox Cake

When Food Network star and cookbook author Ina Garten makes icebox cake, she puts her own delicious spin on a classic icebox cake recipe by layering chocolate chip cookies with whipped cream. She also incorporates Kahlúa coffee liqueur into her cake. The cookies — which come from Tate's Bake Shop in Southampton, New York — add chewiness and sweetness to the cake. The Kahlúa adds buttery notes and a bold black coffee flavor, and turns the cake into a dessert that adults may appreciate a bit more. Garten explained in a video on the Food Network's YouTube channel, "[Kahlúa] makes it a really grown-up icebox cake."

The chocolate chip cookies sandwiched between the buttery whipped cream layers may balance out the unsweetened cocoa powder and bitter espresso powder, which Garten mixes into a mocha whipped cream for her icebox cake. If you want to make an icebox cake with a signature twist like Garten, try incorporating your own special ingredients to create a unique, delicious, and crowd-pleasing cake. But first, heed some useful tips that will help you make a great icebox cake no matter what ingredients you use.

There are a few tips you can use to make the absolute best icebox cake. The cookie base of your icebox cake is essential, and your cookies need to be tender for the best results. Before you make your cake, dip store-bought cookies or non-sugar wafers in milk to see if they become soft. If they don't, opt for cookies or wafers that soften in milk for your cake. If your cookies aren't very sweet, add sugar to the cream. If your cookies are really sweet, you may want to use less sugar. Making an icebox cake for family or friends? Use a springform pan to contain your icebox cake that will show off each delicious layer when you take off the removable outside ring. It'll look appetizing when your family and friends see it.

Give your icebox cake notes of honey, cinnamon, and a sour-sweet flavor by making a tart cherry icebox cake with layers of tart cherries, icing, and graham crackers. If you'd love a cookies 'n' cream flavor and a sweet, cooling sensation in your icebox cake, spray a mound of minty whipped cream over Oreo cookies to make a mint chocolate icebox cake. For a fun, frozen take on icebox cake, throw some dried fruit and nuts into your mixture to make an icebox fruit cake. And if you've got a nostalgic sweet tooth, you can also make some deliciously old-fashioned icebox cakes.