chocolate peanut butter icebox cake

Josh loves three things in this world: chocolate, peanut butter and nutella. I fall in somewhere after those three, and really I’m only so high on that list because I make him things like this and this. Alright, that may be somewhat of an exaggeration but seriously for the last three years he has requested the same chocolate peanut butter cake, and don’t get me wrong I would make anything he wanted, repeatedly, but it gets monotonous. I want to be given the reins to create a master piece, to conquer the balance between not too sweet yet decadently rich with flavor and to frankly make something other than chocolate and peanut butter.

This time around, after he realized he does in fact love me more than chocolates, peanut butter and all the sweets in the world he decided to give me a little more freedom, but only because I begged, and pleaded and told him that I  was going to do it. I made him his stupid chocolate peanut butter cake, which is really quite good, and then, after being given the stipulation that the second cake must also be chocolate peanut butter, I decided to do an icebox cake because they intrigue me. For one, they are pretty and layered and have stacks of chocolate cookies and cream almost like an open oreo, and I do love oreos. Second, it’s not overly sweet, or at least the whole half cup of sugar for the entire cake certainly gave the implication it would not be a comatose inducing sugar laden mound of mile high sweetness that his favored cake usually is. Thirdly, I always wondered how cookies would taste in a cake. Would they be crumbly? Hard? Break easily? Or would they be mushy and perhaps soggy?

After hopping over to Wikipedia for some reliable research on the topic, I found that icebox cakes are made of wafers and whipped cream and left over night in the refrigerator or icebox (my mom still calls the fridge an icebox and we always made fun of her for it, a pity really) and the next day you would actually have a cake with a moist cake-like texture since the wafers were able to soak up the moisture from the whipped cream. It can be served in slices and not break and crumble when cut into yet it won’t be soggy because they are not sitting in liquid. It all made sense, especially after I had a slice, or two or three.

And as for the husband of mine, he had two cakes this year and they both were his favorite flavor combinations. And that quickly put me back on top at the number one spot, which I found out I was always at. He just wanted to keep me on my toes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Icebox Cake
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food

This cake is on the small side serving about 6, but can easily be doubled into a larger sized cake.

2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 box (9 ounces) chocolate wafer cookies

In a large bowl, whip 1 1/2 cups cream with sugar until soft peaks form. In a small bowl, whisk peanut butter and remaining 1/2 cup cream together until light and fluffy. Fold peanut butter mixture into whipped cream until incorporated.

Dab the bottom of 7 cookies with a very small amount of cream mixture and arrange in a circle on a serving plate, with one cookie in the middle. Top with 2/3 cup cream mixture, spreading outward to cover all but the out edges of the cookies. Repeat process five more times, staggering the cookie layers and ending with cream. Cut three cookies in half and decorate top of cake.

Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or over night before serving.