recipes 142 and 143: icebox cake

I don't believe there is a dessert more comforting or pleasing than icebox cake: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebox_cake. To me, icebox cake is alternating layers of chocolate and vanilla pudding with layers of graham crackers (and sometimes sliced bananas) in-between and refrigerating overnight so that the graham crackers become all cake-like. I don't think there was a dessert made more often in my family's house than traditional icebox cake. And then I got to junior high school "home ec" cooking class and was very excited in advance for icebox cake day until... that day actually came and to my utter shock and dismay, graham crackers and pudding were not involved. Chocolate wafers and whipped cream were involved. I was shocked that there was more than one way to make icebox cake (and yes, a little excited). And then, to add to my confusion, every year my family would go to the same Memorial Day picnic with the same people and the same food and desserts. (As an aside, I did once sneak off and gulp down a few raw clams with cocktail sauce at this picnic at a very, very young age while the adults busily assembled themselves into bocce teams- bocce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocce). My favorite dessert from this picnic was called "chocolate eclair dessert." It was described by the creator as being a "chocolate eclair icebox cake." This was too much for my young mind. "There are THREE WAYS to make icebox cake? And they're all called icebox cake? This is confounding!" (the inner thoughts of young Tiff). Flash forward to today, when I have recently realized that there are actually about 8 zillion ways to make icebox cake. I continue to be confounded and excited. Here are my two favorite icebox cake recipes so far. I don't think I'm finished experimenting with icebox cake yet, though! The first recipe is from the Memorial Day picnic (circa 1982-1994ish, at which point I became too cool for school and stopped attending the Memorial Day picnic), and beyond that, the source is unknown. The second one is slightly simplified from "The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook" and is very reminiscent of the junior high school cooking class recipe: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Magnolia-Bakery-Cookbook-World-Famous/dp/1439175640.

CHOCOLATE ECLAIR ICEBOX CAKE
Ingredients:
-a box of regular graham crackers (you won't use the whole box, but the actual amount you use will depend on the size of the dish, so err on the side of caution and have a whole box ready to go... nothing would be more disappointing to get close to the end of the layers and run out of graham crackers)
-2 (3 oz) packages of instant vanilla pudding
-3 c lowfat milk
-8 oz Cool Whip
-a teeny bit of extra butter for greasing the glass dish
-4 1/2 T melted butter
-1 1/2 oz unsweetened Baker's chocolate, melted according to package instructions: http://www.amazon.com/Bakers-Unsweetened-Chocolate-8-Ounce-Boxes/dp/B000E1FY8I
-2 1/2 c confectioner's sugar
-4 1/2 T lowfat milk

Instructions:
1) beat together the pudding and 3 cups of milk and let set
2) fold in the Cool Whip
3) layer the pudding and graham crackers in a lightly buttered glass dish like so (starting with a layer of graham crackers):

4) leave some room at the top of the layers and refrigerate while you make the chocolate frosting
5) with a beater, beat together: the melted butter, melted chocolate, confectioner's sugar and 4 and a half tablespoons of milk
6) spread the frosting on top (being fancy and making a pattern in the frosting with a fork, of course):

7) refrigerate for 24-36 hours before serving

ohhhhh, yum!

MAGIC MAGNOLIA BAKERY 4-INGREDIENT CHOCOLATE WAFER ICEBOX CAKE
Ingredients:
-3 c heavy cream
-3 T sugar
-1 1/3 T vanilla extract
-1 1/2 packages of Nabisco chocolate wafer cookies: http://www.amazon.com/Famous-Chocolate-Wafers-9-Ounce-Boxes/dp/B000FA38ZE

Instructions:
1) in a large bowl, beat together the cream, sugar, and vanilla, stopping when soft peaks start to form
2) in a large glass dish, start layering the wafers and thin layers of the cream, starting with a layer of wafers and ending with a layer of cream

note: this picture does not do the deliciousness of this recipe justice!

3) refrigerate at least 5 hours or, preferably, overnight
4) cut and serve (before cutting and serving, I think it would be delicious to top this with some fresh sliced strawberries, I have yet to try this but I want to!)