• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Recipes
    • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch & Dinner
    • Desserts & Baking
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Work with Me
  • Cookbook

Home » Recipes » Desserts & Baking

black forest icebox cake

Published: Aug 2, 2021 · Updated: Aug 17, 2022 by Stephanie Simmons

118 shares
  • Facebook1
  • Twitter
  • Email
Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

This Black Forest Icebox Cake is completely no bake – perfect for hot summer days! It’s made with layers of chocolate graham crackers, sweet cherry preserves, and homemade whipped cream. Prepare to impress everyone who eats this when you slice into all those layers!

A metal tray of the icebox cake, and two slices on two other plates. this recipe

Table of Contents

    • What is an Icebox Cake?
    • How to Make an Icebox Cake:
    • Variations on this Recipe:
      • Can I omit the alcohol?
      • Can I use flavors other than cherry and chocolate?
      • Can I make this gluten-free?
  • Black Forest Icebox Cake
      • For the Whipped Cream
      • For the Cherry Filling
      • For the Rest of the Cake

What is an Icebox Cake?

It’s a unique old-school type of dessert, where some type of cookies (graham crackers in this case) and whipped cream are repeated in thin layers, and then chilled. The chill time allows the whipped cream to soften the graham crackers, so that when you take a bite, it’s like tasting dozens of thin layers of cake and whipped cream. Pretty cool, right??

Two plates of the sliced icebox cake, with fresh cherries and chocolate shavings on top.

How to Make an Icebox Cake:

Let’s make this Black Forest Icebox Cake! First, make your whipped cream. It may look like a lot, but you’ll need a lot to make all the layers, and to later cover the entire outside of the cake. This whipped cream is spiked with a hint of kirsch, since this is a black forest inspired icebox cake.

A large mixing bowl with whipped cream.

Place some wax paper onto whatever serving plate you want to use, and then begin making your layers. Start with a chocolate graham cracker square, then add a thin layer (a spoonful or so – no need to measure this precisely) of cherry preserves, and a generous spoonful of whipped cream.

Chocolate graham cracker squares spread with cherry preserves and whipped cream.

Stack a few of these on top of each other, then stand them on end on your prepared platter. You’ll want to create 3 rows with about 12 graham crackers in each row.

The assembled icebox cake on a metal platter before being covered in whipped cream.

Once this is assembled, chill the entire thing in your freezer for about 30 minutes, to help firm it up. This will allow you to spread on the whipped cream without knocking over these layered rows. (On a particularly warm or humid day, you may need to cover the outside in layers, letting the cake chill in the freezer in stages between each layer.)

Once your cake has chilled for a few hours, you can top it with fresh cherries, chocolate shavings, and slice it up!

The icebox cake, topped with fresh cherries and chocolate shavings, with a few slices missing.

Those layers are sure to impress when you cut into the cake. It really does look like you made dozens of tiny cake layers and frosted between each with whipped cream!

Variations on this Recipe:

Here are a few other ways to make this recipe if you want to use different flavors, make it gluten-free, or omit the alcohol so it’s kid-friendly.

Can I omit the alcohol?

  • Yes, you definitely can! No need to sub anything else in it’s place, just omit it.

Can I use flavors other than cherry and chocolate?

  • Yes! You could use another flavor of fruit preserves here like blueberry, strawberry, or raspberry. You can also change out the chocolate graham crackers for regular graham crackers.

Can I make this gluten-free?

  • Yes! Just use your favorite brand of gluten-free graham crackers.

A fork taking a bite from a slice of the icebox cake.

Happy no-baking!

Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment below letting us know how you liked it! 

Be sure to follow bluebowlrecipes on instagram and tag #bluebowlrecipes with a photo of your creation!

Black Forest Icebox Cake

This Black Forest Icebox Cake is completely no bake - perfect for hot summer days! It's made with layers of chocolate graham crackers, sweet cherry preserves, and homemade whipped cream.
5 from 3 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Dessert
Keyword: No Bake Desserts, Icebox Cake, Summer Desserts
Prep Time: 45 minutes minutes
Chilling Time: 3 hours hours
Servings: 12 slices
Author: Stephanie Simmons

Ingredients

For the Whipped Cream

  • 2 and 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp cherry kirsch *can omit if needed
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar

For the Cherry Filling

  • 1 jar cherry preserves (One 12-13 ounce jar)
  • 2 tbsp cherry kirsch *can omit if needed
  • Splash of almond extract

For the Rest of the Cake

  • 1 box chocolate graham crackers
  • fresh cherries, for garnish
  • chocolate shavings, for garnish

Instructions

  • Prep: Line your serving platter/plate with wax paper or parchment paper. Get your graham crackers out, and break each sheet in half. Stir the kirsch and almond extract into the cherry preserves.
  • Make the Whipped Cream: Add the heavy cream, kirsch, powdered sugar, and vanilla to a large mixing bowl. Mix on high speed with an electric mixer until the cream begins to thicken. Continue mixing until stiff peaks form. Don't overmix!
  • Assemble the Icebox Cake: Spread a spoonful of cherry preserves onto a graham cracker square. Add a generous spoonful of whipped cream on top. Repeat this, placing one coated graham cracker on top of the previous until you have a tower that's 4 pieces tall. Flip this on its side and place it on your tray. See photos above if you need help visualizing this. Repeat this two more times to finish the row - it should have 12 graham crackers, with the end pieces having nothing on their outside-facing sides.
    After you've finished the whole row of 12 squares, repeat that whole process two more times so that you end up with 3 rows of 12 graham pieces in each. If any of your rows don't line up perfectly, you can always add another coated graham where needed to even things out.
    Chill this in the freezer for 20-40 minutes. Cover the remaining whipped cream with a kitchen towel, and pop it in the fridge while the cake chills. Chilling the cake here is important so that you can cover it with the whipped cream without knocking down the rows you just made.
    Once the cake has chilled, cover it on all sides and the top with the remaining whipped cream. (You may have to do this in layers, especially on particularly hot and humid days, letting the cake chill between each layer or side "frosted" to keep the whipped cream set.)
  • Chill, Serve, + Store: Chill the cake at least 2 hours in the fridge, and up to overnight before serving. If chilling overnight, cover the cake. This gives the graham crackers time to soften, making it a true icebox cake. Decorate with fresh cherries and chocolate shavings before serving.
    Cut into slices, and enjoy! Leftovers can be kept in the fridge, tightly covered, for up to 4 days.
The One-Bowl Baker

Order my new book:

The One-Bowl Baker

today!

One-Bowl recipes for incredible cookies, brownies, cakes, and breads made easy enough for anyone to bake!

Order Now:

Walmart // Amazon // Barnes & Noble // Target // Booksamillion // Bookshop // Indie Bound // Book Depository

Get the Bonus e-Book!

More Desserts & Baking

  • A stack of cinnamon roll snickerdoodle cookie halves, showing the cinnamon roll filling inside.
    cinnamon roll stuffed brown butter snickerdoodle cookies
  • A slice of pumpkin pie cheesecake topped with salted caramel sauce and whipped cream.
    pumpkin pie swirled cheesecake with biscoff crust
  • A stack of pecan pie bars topped with whipped cream.
    salted maple pecan pie bars
  • A wide angle photo of the pumpkin pie cookies on a vintage wire rack on a burgundy background.
    pumpkin pie gingersnap cookies

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi. I’m Stephanie

I’m a Mom & Grandma-taught cook + baker, and I’m excited to share my love of all things food with you!

Learn more

Order my new book

One-Bowl recipes for incredible cookies, brownies, cakes, and breads made easy enough for anyone to bake!

Order now

Reader Faves

A stack of fudgy brownies with crackly tops and a dusting of powdered sugar.

best-ever 5 ingredient brownies

A peanut butter pie piled with whipped cream and peanut butter cups.

amazing no-bake peanut butter pie

Monster cookies on a light surface, with a bowl of peanut butter and glasses of milk.

bakery-style monster cookies

A close-up of a slice of peach cobbler cheesecake with cinnamon peach juice dripping down.

peach cobbler cheesecake

maple bacon cupcakes with brown butter frosting and candied bacon

A slice of breakfast quiche on a plate.

perfect breakfast quiche

Seasonal Picks

A close-up on a slice of apple pizza in the pie plate, with salted caramel sauce..

caramel apple dessert pizza with cinnamon streusel

A text graphic over a pie that says "how to make perfect pie crust".

how to make homemade 3-ingredient pie crust

A spoon dipping into a jar of caramel sauce.

10-minute salted caramel sauce

Apple galette on a vintage tray, drizzled with caramel sauce.

salted caramel apple galette

A stack of two slices of apple crumb cake drizzled with caramel, on a wire rack.

caramel apple crumb cake

Cheesecake topped with pecan praline, on a white background. A triangle of cheesecake has been sightly pulled back from the cake to show the interior of the sice.

pecan pie cheesecake

Subscribe for recipes

Footer

  • Privacy Policy
Blog Meets Brand

© 2023 Blue Bowl Recipes. All Rights Reserved.