I am a card-carrying member of the Soft Food Lovers club. Actually, there's no card but I'm considering making one because I know I am not alone. I could easily and happily live on a steady stream of creamy hummus and chocolate pudding, with a break now and again for some ice cream and buttery mashed potatoes.
It comes as no surprise that I love, love, love icebox cakes. Not only are they wildly simple to make, but they're also soft and creamy and yield easily to the gentle pressure of a fork.
All you do is layer cookies and whipped cream. And it looks fancy! Thus is the magic of cooking, which SHH BIG SECRET is really just a matter of taking separate things, putting them together, and waiting.
The classic icebox cake uses Nabisco chocolate wafer cookies and lightly sweetened whipped cream. Graham crackers are an excellent stand-in for the wafer cookies, but you can also try using any thin, crisp cookies like Nilla wafers or gingersnaps or slice-and-bake sugar cookies.
As for the whipped cream, feel free to doctor it up. Fold in some ricotta or mascarpone, add a drop of vanilla or almond extract, or sift in a little cocoa powder or espresso powder. Fruit puree is also nice if you're using a vanilla or sugar cookie.
Classic Icebox Cake
13 ounces chocolate wafer cookies (1 1/2 packages of Nabisco brand), or try
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Whip the cream on high until you have stiff peaks. Mix in the vanilla.
On a plate or cake stand, make a circular layer of chocolate wafers (about 7 wafers). Spread a layer of whipped cream over the cookies. Top with another layer of cookies, then whipped cream, and keep alternating until you run out of ingredients.
Refrigerate overnight, or for at least 8 hours. Eat!