Apple Butter Pecan Icebox Cake

This Apple Pecan Icebox cake is truly luscious with sweet caramelized apple butter, fluffy vanilla speckled whipped cream, and softened shortbread cookies with bits of crunchy pecans. You will love the taste, texture and what little effort is involved in making this cake.

Have you ever just done to much? Like, someone asks you to bring a dessert and for whatever reason, you can’t just show up with a simple pie, or plate of cookies.

I have a real problem with overachieving when it comes to desserts. Take last Thanksgiving’s Prosecco Cupcakes for instance. Sweet, pretty and well-received, but probably not that necessary. In an effort to dial down the the “wow factor” this year, I decided to recreate one of my favorite classic desserts. The icebox cake.

I’m really questioning why I couldn’t find a similar recipe anywhere. This Apple Pecan Icebox Cake is so heckin’ good! It’s so rich and sweet. It’s got a subtle flavor reminiscent of apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, only it’s much easier to make. As a bonus, this dessert doesn’t require an oven. All of the decadent magic happens in the refrigerator.

Where Did The Idea For Apple Pecan Icebox Cake Come From?

With the holidays quickly approaching, I wanted to make something we haven’t had before. It needed to be delicious of course, but easy to make and it had to freeze well. Icebox cake checked all of these boxes.

The flavor came to me while I was cleaning out the refrigerator just the other day. Without a working oven, I haven’t been able to bake any of the fall treats I had planned. I’m trying to convince myself it’s a good thing, but I still had to find something to do with the jar of Easy Overnight Crock-Pot Apple Butter waiting patiently in the fridge.

From there I realized, I only needed to pick up some heavy whipping cream and cookies to make something incredible. I decided on Sandies, because we all love them around here. Apples and pecans are also such a perfect seasonal pair. If you’re not a fan of pecan cookies, feel free to add what you love.

Some alternative cookie options include:

• Graham crackers
• Pizzelle
• Golden Oreo Thins
• Shortbread
• Lady Fingers
• Biscoff

There is plenty of room to experiment with this recipe. If I were making this the day of Thanksgiving though, I would probably use a thinner cookie, but since we’ve got time, I opted for a thicker cookie. Just keep in mind that some cookies will not work. Chewier cookies, iced cookies, or chocolate coated cookies aren’t the best options with this recipe.

Other Reasons To Love Icebox Cake

Icebox cake has been popular for over a century, but possibly much longer than that. It seems to make it’s way back to the stage every couple of decades, and for good reason. It’s quick, it’s delicious and there are countless, and even easier ways to make it. It’s a wonderful recipe to make with kids, too. There’s just so much to love about this recipe, so let’s talk about how to make it.

How To Make Icebox Cake

The first step to this recipe is reducing the apple butter before folding it into the whipped cream. It took me about ten minutes to get it nice and thick. Just before it’s ready, it will start to pull away from the sides of the pot just like caramel does.

The next thing you’ll want to do is cool it down. I took the quick route and stirred it for a few minutes over a bowl of ice water.

Once the apple butter is cool, whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Then, gently fold the apple butter into the whipped cream until fully incorporated.

If you don’t want to take the extra step to make whipped cream, I am all for substituting cool whip. Just between us, you can still add in the vanilla bean and call it homemade.

No apple butter? No problem.

Apple butter is pretty simple to make, but can take some time. A quicker version can be made on the stove top with fresh apples. You’ll want to blend them to get a smooth consistency and continue cooking to get most of the moisture out. Applesauce would work as well, and will just take longer to cook down and caramelize than apple butter.

How To Assemble The Apple Butter Pecan Icebox Cake

I decided to use a six-inch spring-form pan because I wanted a really pretty round cake. If you don’t have one, don’t sweat it. There are no rules here. I’m not like a regular recipe blogger, I’m a cool recipe blogger.

So, feel free to use any pan or dish you have on hand. To make serving and cleanup easy, use parchment or wax paper to line the pan. Adding a little butter helps the paper stick to the sides.

From there, just follow these simple steps with your ingredients of choice:

1. Spread the whipped cream mixture over the bottom of the pan or dish.
2. Add a layer of cookies over the mixture.
3. Spread another layer of the mixture over the cookies.
4. Add another layer of cookies over the mixture.
5. Repeat these steps until you run out of room, or ingredients.

You can fill in any gaps with broken cookie pieces. Some say there should be zero gaps between the cookies because it will compromise the structure. I don’t bother with the edges, and I have never had any issues. Of course, filling them in couldn’t hurt.

This icebox cake may look a bit plain without a garnish. Luckily, it’s as simple as crumbling a few extra cookies and sprinkling them around the edge. They came out nice and soft, so if you’d rather have a crunchier garnish you can wait until you’re ready to serve to add the garnish.

I was also planning on adding a couple of apple slices to make it really pretty, but my dog ate my apple. I think even simply piping on some fresh whipped cream would be a nice contrast to the apple cream. There are so many options, but I really loved the simplicity of this design.

Do I have to refrigerate it overnight?

How long you refrigerate your Icebox cake depends on the type of cookies you choose, and how large it will be. A smaller cake with thinner cookies may only need a few hours to soften. A larger cake, or one like this with thicker cookies will need to chill overnight in order for the cookies to fully absorb the fat from the cream.

While most icebox cakes require a minimum of four hours to chill, all of them can last at least two days in the refrigerator without getting soggy. When it doubt, leave it for at least eight hours.

Freezing

If you’re planning on freezing an icebox cake to save for a later date, you will want to chill it before freezing, otherwise the cookies and whipped cream will freeze before they have time to come together. Wrap it in cling wrap and foil, or an airtight container for up to one month.

I really hope you love this Apple Butter Pecan Icebox Cake as much as we did! Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts, questions, or suggestions.