School Holiday Treat - Chocolate Biscuit No-Bake Cake

The Magnolia Bakery was forever immortalised by Sex and the City, for a scene where Carrie and Miranda discuss Carrie's new crush on Aiden while munching on a cupcake. The result was a global cupcake boom, and in its wake, a wave of "nostalgic desserts". Allysa Torey, owner/ chef at Magnolia was subsequently interviewed by O The Oprah Magazine about her favourite nostalgic dessert and said: "The one dessert I have great memories of us [my mom and I] making together is the chocolate wafer icebox cake—the same one that we serve at the bakery today. Apparently, while the rest of the country was slaving away shaping Nabisco chocolate wafers into the log that was pictured on the side of the box, we were using chocolate snap cookies to make a really simple yet really delicious round icebox cake."

I was amazed by the look of this cake (check out the link here to the Oprah Magazine to see how pretty it is), and even more amazed by the fact that it requires no baking at all. The moisture from the cream seeps into the biscuits overnight, so they develop a cake like texture that can be sliced and served. I made it with Arnott's Ripple biscuits, a much chunkier (and dowdier) choice than the US version with lovely thin Nabisco Chocolate Wafers, and it was completely delicious (although I may hunt out some other biscuit choices). I know we will make this again and again. A perfect summer treat.

Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake

adapted from " The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook" by Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torey
3 cups cream
3 tbls sugar
1 tbl vanilla extract
2 packets chocolate biscuits eg Ripples

Unsweetened cocoa powder

In a large bowl, beat cream, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. On a flat serving plate, arrange 7 biscuits, with six in a circle and one in the centre. Spread with a generous layer of whipped cream. Repeat with remaining biscuits and cream, ending with a layer of cream (there will be a few biscuits left over). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. To serve, dust top lightly with cocoa powder.