It's a Cookie. It's a Cake. It's a Super Dessert.

 

Everything old is new again on the Internet. Bloggers and their fans are bringing back recipes for  family favorites and treasured childhood treats. Dishes that have faded from food magazines’ pages are finding their second act in the blogosphere.

Many date back to the days when refrigerator makers were tempting customers to buy the expensive new appliance with refrigerator-reliant recipes. Some have generic names like  “Refrigerator Rolls” or “Refrigerator Cake.” Others, like “Frigidaire Cookies,” are brand-specific.

One of the most ubiquitous and enduring of these refrigerator recipes is for a cake made with cookies and whipped cream. To make it, you spread whipped cream on the cookies, lay them on their side in a row, then frost the log with whipped cream, and chill or freeze it. When it’s time to serve, you slice it diagonally to make the most of the striped effect. You’ve probably had it or made it or, at the very least, heard of it.

Today, most bloggers title it the “Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer Cake.” But I’ve also seen it called an icebox cake, a refrigerator cake, a zebra cake, and a caterpillar cake among other names.

Mostly it’s still made in a log shape, but New York’s Magnolia Bakery stacks the cookies in a circle to create a round cake. It’s cut in wedges just like a traditional cake.

Some of today’s recipes gild the lily by adding various liqueurs to the whipped cream, puddling chocolate sauce around it, or topping it with fresh strawberries or raspberries. Most say it has to be made with “Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers.”

However, many old recipes don’t specify the cookie flavor, much less the brand. One suggests using either chocolate or ginger cookies. The earliest and simplest recipe I’ve seen is in a 1938 Frigidaire pamphlet, and is titled “Chocolate Cookie Dessert.” It calls for thin chocolate cookies – no brand specified – whipping cream, and vanilla. That’s it.

Another pamphlet labels it “Silhouette Pudding” and, along with the whipped cream, specifies Nabisco chocolate wafers. Apparently they weren’t yet “Famous.”

A rather unusual version is from America’s Cook Book, published in 1940. In this one, instead of plain  whipped cream there is a combination of condensed milk, jam, and heavy cream. The cookie flavor is not specified. It’s called “Cellophane Refrigerator Cake” because the cookies and cream filling are stacked in their cellophane wrapper, rather than arranged on a dish. All the better to keep them in line.

I’ve used a paper towel tube to store a roll of cookie dough in the freezer, but never thought of using the cellophane. It’s a bit fussy to do, but it works well. I used a five and a quarter ounce package of thin ginger cookies, instead of the chocolate ones. And I sprinkled cookie crumbs over the top for added pizazz. The dish that resulted was surprisingly good and tasted more like cake than cookies.

 

Cellophane Refrigerator Cake

Half-cup sweetened condensed milk
One-quarter cup raspberry or strawberry jam
One tablespoon lemon juice
Half-cup heavy cream, whipped [You’ll need another half-cup to frost the loaf.]
One package cellophane wrapped cookies

Blend milk, jam and lemon juice; fold in whipped cream. Open top of cellophane roll and remove all but bottom cooky. Drop a spoonful of filling on this cooky, add another cooky, pressing it down gently; repeat until all cookies are used. Close top of package tightly and chill in refrigerator 12 hours or longer. To serve: unwrap and cut in diagonal slices; top with additional cream. Yield: 6 portions. – America’s Cook Book, New York Herald Tribune, 1940.

Comments

[Jeri Quinzio]

Hi Stanley,

Thanks. Try Downtown Abbey Cooks - the link is on my blog. I think you'll enjoy it. Jeri

[Stanley]

Good day! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I truly enjoy reading through your articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same subjects? Thanks!

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[Jeri Quinzio]

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[Jeri Quinzio]

Try it. It's so good, and it really could not be easier to make. Enjoy.

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mm, this cake looks so good! Now I am hungry :)

[KMWall]

I love this dessert. OK, I love nearly every dessert...The first time I had this I was traveling on business, and was staying with friends of friends.The 5 year old and the 7 year old whipped cream with a whisk to make this for me. It's been a favorite ever since. I saw in Martha Stewart several years ago about making it into a round, which I have also done. I've branched out from famous chocolate wafers to gingersnaps, but ultimate icebox cake is chocolate cookies with chocolate whipped cream. I have to remember to put this on my list of take along treats for the summer.