Too hot for real cake

June 20, 2014 12:13 PM

Your favorite icebox cakes / put everything in a baking dish and let it sit in the refrigerator and get really delicious-type cakes? Let me have them so I don't have to turn my oven on this summer.

The other day during the oppressive DC heat, I made my boyfriend one of those icebox layer cake type of desserts - this one to be exact. When he came home from band practice, he put some in a bowl and in between mouthfuls, praised me (and this dessert) to the high heavens.

I'd like to make him (ok, let's be real, me too) some more things like this. So what are your favorite "put all these things in this dish and let it sit" type of dessert recipes?

Snowflake preferences: I don't want to turn my oven on - it's too hot. I'm not opposed to microwaving things. Bonus if it doesn't use a lot of bowls (no dishwasher). My boyfriend hates coconut, not huge into peaches. I'm not a huge fan of Jell-O or dried fruit. I'm an excellent baker/cook so I don't mind making things from scratch as long as it doesn't involve an oven (i.e. no homemade meringues, but I'm happy to buy meringue cookies from Trader Joe's). No dietary restrictions. I have access to a wide variety of cooking/baking ingredients.

posted by kerning to Food & Drink (30 answers total)

If you have a rice cooker, you can dump a cake recipe into it and hit cook until it comes out something like cake. Rice cookers put out less heat than ovens.
posted by aniola at 12:18 PM on June 20, 2014 [2 favorites]

You can also make a solar oven. They bake amazingly well.
posted by aniola at 12:19 PM on June 20, 2014

This raspberry icebox cake is delicious. I think when I made it I left out the raspberry liqueur to no ill effect.
posted by quaking fajita at 12:20 PM on June 20, 2014 [2 favorites]

Trifle. My own preferred combo of layers is pound cake, chocolate or vanilla pudding, strawberries or raspberries, whipped cream, and slivered almonds (toasted, if you like), but there are a million ways to make it. Buy the pound cake and pudding at the store, so the only bowl you have to use for prep in addition to the serving dish is for whipping the cream.
posted by scody at 12:23 PM on June 20, 2014 [11 favorites]

Chocolate Wafer Icebox cake
posted by JacksonandFinch at 12:25 PM on June 20, 2014 [4 favorites]

If you have a blender or food processor, you must make these Double Chocolate Crispy Frozen Dessert Bars. Yes, they're vegan, but (and!) they're so amazingly delicious...
posted by sabotagerabbit at 12:26 PM on June 20, 2014 [3 favorites]

I've successfully used this recipe several times to make microwave cake. It's quite moist and dense, but still cake-like. I multiply the recipe by 4, and whisk the eggs separately. Takes about 12ish minutes to cook through.
posted by Solomon at 12:40 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

Seconding the chocolate wafer cake. My mom used to make it and I LOVE it. She'd do two long rows lying down and then frost the whole thing with an extra layer of whipped cream. Oh man.
posted by that's candlepin at 12:42 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

Popsicles will require molds or some macguyvering with sticks and dixie cups, but the best recipes are just throwing things in a blender and freezing.

Granita requires a few swirls with a fork after it's been in the freezer for 30-45-1hr, but no molds needed, one dish.

Pudding could be made with a microwave.

Tiramisu.
posted by fontophilic at 12:42 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

This chocolate wafer icebox cake is amazing. The wafers can be a little hard to source but it couldn't be easier to make and is really delicious.
posted by Saminal at 12:47 PM on June 20, 2014

I haven't actually tried it, but I've had my eye on this no-bake lime cracker pie for a while. Seems like it might be better with graham crackers or vanilla wafers instead of Ritz crackers, but people seem to love it as is, too.
posted by rebekah at 12:55 PM on June 20, 2014

Summer pudding
Eton mess
Banana ice cream
posted by zamboni at 12:55 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

I really like this summer berry pudding from the Barefoot Contessa. You do have to cook some berries on the stove for a few minutes to make the liquid that soaks into the brioche, but you might be able to do that in the microwave. Aside from that it's just assembling and chilling.
posted by bcwinters at 12:57 PM on June 20, 2014

Was just gonna suggest that lime cracker pie. It is in fact really excellent with Ritz crackers (you need something salty).
posted by neroli at 12:58 PM on June 20, 2014

i haven't made this one yet, but i am totally going to 'cause it looks awesome.
posted by koroshiya at 12:59 PM on June 20, 2014

I get requests for this Lemon Blueberry Trifle all the time. It's tasty and easy, and there no need to do any piping or even grating
if you're lazy like me.
posted by Requiax at 1:15 PM on June 20, 2014

Boccone dolce, using purchased crisp meringues. Layer meringue, little chocolate drizzle, unsweetened shipped cream, berries. Insanely good.
posted by purenitrous at 1:22 PM on June 20, 2014

No-bake peanut butter bars! Mmmm
posted by jrobin276 at 1:40 PM on June 20, 2014

This might sound weird, but: mix 1 can of pink or yellow frozen lemonade with 1 giant tub of vanilla ice cream; then, when it's all mixed, pour it into a graham cracker crust pie thingy. Put it in the freezer for a few hours and bam: lemonade pie.

Also I can personally vouch for the rice cooker cake concept—this week my kids and I have experimented with making chocolate cake and making a giant pancake, and they were both way more amazing than they had any right to be! We're gonna do pumpkin bread and banana bread in there next week.
posted by mothershock at 1:59 PM on June 20, 2014 [2 favorites]

I'm another who loved the chocolate wafer icebox cake. I always made it in one long row, covered in cream, although I also made it in a circle so that it looked a little like a bundt cake. A variation that was hugely successful is to use ginger snaps instead of chocolate wafers, and a thin slice of banana between each cookie layer.
posted by angiep at 2:23 PM on June 20, 2014

This Cook's Country No Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake has been on my to-bake list since I first saw the recipe done on their show last month.

This is technically pie, but Frozen Lemonade Pie is so, so good. You can substitute any kind of juice (3/4 to 1 cup of liquid) for the lemonade for endless flavor variations. I just made one with orange juice and it was lovely and sweet. You don't have to freeze it if you want it to be more like a cream pie instead of creamsicle-like in texture.
posted by PearlRose at 2:29 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

While it isn't cake, if you want some variety away from all the things designed to mimic baked goods, one of my summer dessert go-tos is the "poptail", or cocktail popsicle. The molds like they use there make for prettier results, but I have some silicone push-up pops that are way less messy.
posted by Sequence at 2:31 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

It's not a cake, but every time I bring Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding to a party it is a huge hit. Like, people I don't know coming up to me and praising my baking skills. And it is seriously the easiest thing to make.
posted by radioamy at 2:33 PM on June 20, 2014 [4 favorites]

OK, so it's not cake, but I love these Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars. They're easy to make and can be done entirely in the microwave, or with stove-top and microwave.

I also love S'Mores Icebox Cake. You can make it from scratch or just use store-bought marshmallow fluff and chocolate pudding.
posted by geeky at 4:45 PM on June 20, 2014

Buy a pie crust and make key lime pie (similar to that lime cracker thing above). While most people bake it nowadays, traditionally it doesn't have to be.

You need key lime juice, eggs, and sweetened condensed milk. You mix them together and put them in the crust or whatever (lots of people have different ratios, you should pick one that seems very sweet or very limey depending on your preferences). The acid in the lime juice reacts with the milk and eggs and you have a delicious pie filling.
posted by vogon_poet at 6:31 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

No bake cheesecake:

Beat together

3 packages of cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Juice of one large lemon

Pour into graham cookie crust. Put in the fridge until set.

This is so easy it has no right to be as delicious as it is. You can add a liqueur in place of the lemon if you like, or top with fruit.
posted by Cuke at 4:24 AM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]

Key lime (or lemon, if that's what life's handed you) works without the raw eggs.
posted by SandiBeech at 6:12 AM on June 21, 2014

I stumbled across these Lemon Icebox Cupcakes last week and have been waiting to be invited to a potluck to take them to.
posted by sarajane at 8:05 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]

I just saw a variation of the chocolate wafer cake that used softened ice cream instead of whipped cream. Just refreeze it until it hardens up again for an ice cream cake version.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:52 AM on June 21, 2014

I made Eton mess, linked above, for a summer potluck, and now I am a cooking goddess.
posted by theora55 at 1:38 PM on June 24, 2014