Icebox cake is what I think of most for a refreshing dessert on a hot Texas afternoon. Fit for a weekend when summer is unofficially passing into fall.
Perhaps it’s because of how it’s made — relatively painstaking, if simple; and few ingredients: chocolate wafers (shown here at HEB; the packaging seems to have changed little over the years and even shows the dessert — the only dessert? — it readily produces; I don’t know a soul who eats these by themselves) and whipped cream.
But not just any whipped cream. It must be homemade. Whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar. My mom showed me that part when I was a boy.
It was Dad’s favorite dessert, and I had it first at a long-gone BBQ restaurant (Smokey’s) on 24th Street and 9th Avenue, of all places. Later, we’d make it at home for his birthdays or other special occasions. (Dad’s other favorite dessert was angel food cake, which I found to be difficult to eat, since cutting through it with a fork was like trying to cut through a pillow with one.)
Last night a storm moved through with much needed rain, and this morning there was sun, which was not promised but welcomed.
I just heard more thunder out back.
If I made an icebox cake tonight, it’d be hiding away till next month, but I’d be ready with fork in hand in less than 24 hours — less than 1 day — and it just might be ready, too.
Biscuit Aisle 