This easy-to-make icebox cake seems to be as popular today as it was 50 years ago. I learned to make it from my grandmother-in-law. Ever since, it has been the favored holiday dessert in our home. For a few years I tried to upstage it with a homemade croquembouche, but everyone said “How pretty” and had a piece of Zebra Cake instead.
1½ cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (9-ounce) package chocolate wafer cookies
¼ cup grated chocolate or finely chopped nuts
Beat cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Spread a generous measuring teaspoon of cream on each cookie. Press cookies together to make 3-inch stacks.
Spread a 1-inch line of whipped cream down center of a serving platter. Assemble cookie stacks into a log on platter. Frost with remaining whipped cream and sprinkle with chocolate or nuts. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. To serve, slice diagonally to create striped pieces.
6 Servings
“One of our greatest treats was the first salad of the season, made with the small wonderful leaf lettuce, chopped green onions, crisp bacon crumbled (when the ration coupons permitted) and boiled sliced eggs, topped with a creamy vinegar dressing. As a side dish, young carrots sautéed in oleo, but still crisp, either malt sugar or brown sugar would be added and simmered until the carrots turned opaque. As the main course—the often appearing macaroni and cheese casserole, baked until lemony brown and bubbly.” Ruth B. Snyder, China, California