No Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake

I am a huge fan of icebox cakes. Icebox cakes are layered desserts that usually involve custard or whipped cream sandwiched between graham crackers or wafer cookies. As they sit in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight, these elements slowly merge into a moist, creamy cake texture that is reminiscent of an eclair or a much fancier meringue dacquoise.

Icebox cakes do usually call for some store-bought ingredients, but I like to tweak classic recipes to avoid boxed puddings and use simpler whipped cream or homemade custard. (I have never gone to length of making my own graham crackers for a cake like this; that would seem to defeat the purpose just a little! But if you want to, go for it! Here's a recipe.)

This particular icebox cake is just as simple as it gets, inspired by the buckets of strawberries at the markets in late spring, and by my favorite dessert: strawberry shortcake. It has layers of graham crackers, barely sweetened whipped cream, and sliced fresh strawberries. It's rich, but it's hardly sweet at all. I added a touch of rosewater to enhance the flavor of the berries, but I know that some people don't care for this flavoring, so I left it as optional here.

The whole cake is drizzled with a quick, simple chocolate ganache, and garnished with whole strawberries. It doesn't heat up your house at all, and it's done long before you even think about starting dinner. Your guests will love you. You'll hoard the leftovers. It is cool, creamy, and killer good. I promise.