Description

Ice box cakes are perfect for those days during the summer when it’s so hot that you’ll do anything to avoid turning on the oven. All you need for this cake is graham crackers, pudding, whipped cream and some fridge time. You can
customize this recipe any way you please. If it’s too hot to even turn on the stove to cook the pudding, you can always use store-bought. The flavor combinations are endless, but I’m partial to spicy-sweet chai tea with chocolate whipped cream.

Ingredients

Scale

1/3 cup (70 g) sugar
2 tbsp (16 g) cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups (600 ml) whole milk
3 large egg yolks
2 tbsp (30 g) butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla
2 chai tea bags
2 tsp (10 g) sugar
1/4 cup (25 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups (480 ml) cold whipping cream, divided
32 graham crackers

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Instructions

Set a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. In a cold saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Slowly drizzle in the milk while whisking, making sure you dissolve the cornstarch. Whisk in the egg yolks. Cook over medium heat while whisking until the pudding starts to thicken and bubble, 5-6 minutes. Reduce to medium-low and stir, using a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides. When pudding is thick and falls back into visible ribbons when drizzled, it’s done, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. When the butter is completely incorporated, pour pudding through the mesh strainer. Press a piece of saran wrap directly onto the pudding and chill for 2 hours.
Brew 1 bag of chai tea in 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of hot water. When cool, squeeze out tea bag and discard. Cut open remaining tea bag and pulse in a food processor until fine. When the pudding is cool, stir in the prepared tea and tea leaves.
Make the chocolate whipped cream: sift the sugar and cocoa. Mix with 1/4 cup (60 ml) of cream until incorporated. Stir in remaining cream. Chill for 1 hour. Whip until medium-soft peaks form. In the bottom of a 9-inch (23-cm) square pan, spread a thin layer of pudding. Lay down crackers and evenly spread a layer of pudding on top. Place another layer of graham crackers and top with chocolate whipped cream. Repeat until you have 5 layers of crackers. Cover and set in the fridge overnight before serving.

Notes

Recipe by Stephanie Le from Easy Gourmet: Awesome Recipes Anyone Can Cook
printed with permission of Page St. Publishing.

I added some roughly chopped dark chocolate for garnish for a nice added crunch.