Blueberry Lemon Ice Box Cake is a no-bake cake with layers of lemon zest, blueberry jam and whipped cream over softened graham crackers.
If you’ve tried other no-bake desserts on the site like Avalanche Cookies or Haystack Cookies, you know how easy it is to make a sweet, delicious dessert without having to wait on a long cook time. Blueberry Lemon Ice Box Cake is a perfect dessert for parties or summer BBQs.
BLUEBERRY LEMON ICE BOX CAKE
Because it’s not baked, this recipe is more cake-like than it is an actual cake, but it’s one of those easy recipes that you can throw together the night before you need it and it will come out looking restaurant ready. Making the cake is easy and you can layer it in a large bowl or in a glass dish so that people can see the beautiful levels inside. Once you’re done, loosely wrap the whole cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 24 hours before serving.
Another great feature of this cake is that it is so customizable that you can use the same basic recipe and swap out ingredients for any occasion. See some ideas for variations below!
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TOPPINGS AND VARIATIONS
A helpful hint for decorating your cake: let it sit for the full 24 hours in the fridge before you start decorating it or you will end up with a gooey mess.
- Powdered sugar: use a traditional white powdered sugar or pick up a colorful version and dust the top of the cake with it. This is an easy way to dress it up without having to spend a ton of time on it.
- Berries: you can arrange berries on the top of the cake to give it a pop of color that tastes delicious. I’d recommend using blueberries and blackberries, or slicing strawberries in half. A word of warning though, definitely add the berries right before you intend to serve it or the whipped cream will be dyed by the juice.
- Frosting: wait until the cake is completely chilled and then ice the top with Cream Cheese Frosting, Classic Buttercream Frosting, or your favorite spread like Nutella.
- Whipped cream: if you really want to impress yourself and your guests, save the cool whip for later and make your own homemade Whipped Cream. You can make it in an electric mixer or by hand if you want a good arm workout.
- Nuts: sprinkle your favorite sliced or crushed nuts over the top for a crunchy topping that also looks fancy.
- Vanilla Ice Cream: homemade vanilla ice cream is the prefect creamy side to have with your cool icebox cake.
- Sauce: try drizzling Chocolate Ganache or melting Salted Caramel over the top to make beautiful and tasty designs.
- Ice box cupcakes: you can make a much smaller version in a muffin tin, you will just have to have a much steadier hand. Line the bottom of each part of the muffin pan with parchment paper, leaving enough to grab onto when you pull them out. Make thin layers of cookies and whipped cream and let them sit in the fridge for 24 hours before serving.
More Blueberry Desserts:
HOW LONG DOES IT KEEP?
- Serve: you should leave it in the fridge overnight to make it firm and chilled. Don’t leave it out very long or it will melt.
- Store: leftover ice box cake will be good in the fridge for about 3 days in an airtight container.
- Freeze: ice box cake is good for about 1 week in the freezer before it gets really gross and doesn’t thaw well.
Blueberry Lemon Ice Box Cake
Blueberry Lemon Ice Box Cake is an easy no-bake cake with fresh berries, lemon zest, blueberry jam and whipped cream over softened graham crackers.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Refrigerate 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes
Servings 12 Servings
Calories 296 kcal
Ingredients
- 2 pints fresh blueberries
- 13 ounces blueberry jam , (I used Bonne Maman)
- 1 lemon
- 12 sheets graham crackers
Whipped Cream
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Whipped Cream:
Mix the blueberry jam, most of the bluberries (reserve one handful for the top of the cake), the lemon juice and most of the zest (save just a sprinkle for the top of the cake) together.
In a 9" springform pan layer whipped cream then a single layer of graham crackers.
Top with the blueberry mixture, then layer with more whipped cream, then another layer of graham crackers and continue, ending with whipped cream, then blueberry jam.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap gently and refrigerate for 4 hours.
Garnish with remaining fresh blueberries and the remaining lemon zest. (You can also garnish before freezing if you are going to keep this frozen for a while).
If not serving right away freeze until you are serving.
Nutrition Facts
Blueberry Lemon Ice Box Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 296 Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Fat 10g15%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Cholesterol 27mg9%
Sodium 115mg5%
Potassium 156mg4%
Carbohydrates 51g17%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 36g40%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 298IU6%
Vitamin C 10mg12%
Calcium 55mg6%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
I love that this blueberry lemon icebox cake will impress everyone without taking a whole afternoon to make. This will make the perfect summer treat!
Definitely!
Such a gorgeous and delicious dessert! This is certainly perfect to have frozen at all times! Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Paula. So glad you enjoyed it!
Blueberry and lemon are two of my favorite flavors together. I also love that this is no bake!
It’s so easy!
Made this for the family and it was a hit!
Thanks for coming back to let me know, Katie. I appreciate the 5 stars.
I’m a little confused that the first layer is the whipped cream – does the graham cracker soak it up so it is just a soft graham cracker layer on bottom?
Yes 🙂
You need to look at this published recipe. No mention of jam in the ingredient list. Ingredient list states sugar but the directions use powdered sugar. No mention of where to use the lemon.
Yikes! Thank you so much. It was missing most of the steps and many of the ingredients. I fixed it all. I appreciate you catching it so quickly, before anyone tried to make it.