This no-bake cake (or icebox cake, a.k.a. Bulgarian biscuit cake) is the perfect easy and quick dessert that is also very satisfying. A tasty combination of mascarpone, Nutella, sour cream and biscuits or crackers. You can make it in few variations, depending in which part of the world you live.
What kind of dessert is that
Biscuit cakes are very popular in Bulgaria, where I come from. The original dessert is very simple, made with just plain cookies and "cook and serve" pudding (which is practically flavoured starch).
This cake is very similar to the American icebox cake but is made with a local kind of hard plain rectangular cookies, very similar to crackers. There are many variations nowadays. Mascarpone cheese is used for the filling more and more often instead of pudding, since it is creamier and gives a richer taste to the dessert.
What kind of biscuits you need
This delicious Nutella mascarpone dessert can be made with different types of biscuits, crackers or cookies. Graham crackers are the best option if you are in the US, but you can make it even with shortbread cookies. Petit Beurre are also a great option. In fact any kind of rectangular plain cookies could work.
Alternatively you could also use round cookies (like digestive biscuits) and break them into pieces before layering them. Nilla wafers can be used too and possibly you can layer them in a round pan without breaking them.
Preparation summary
You need only 7 ingredients and few simple steps to make this cake. It is an absolutely no fail dessert that is made of layering cookies, mascarpone filling and Nutella mixture. Here is the summary of the steps:
- Whip mascarpone, powdered sugar and half of the sour cream in a large bowl.
- Whisk the chocolate spread with the rest of the sour cream.
- Dip the cookies in milk. If they are thick and dry, you can leave them for up to 20 seconds inside. If they absorb immediately, 5-10 seconds would be enough.
- Spread one layer of cookies on the bottom of a rectangular pan (11 x 7 inches or 28 x 18 cm is best)
- Spread the mascarpone filling on top to cover well the cookies
- Spread roughly the Nutella mixture: doesn't need to cover the filling well.
- Continue until finishing all cookies and mixtures.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Recipe tips
- You need to soak very well the cookies into the milk. This is crucial for a creamy and soft dessert.
- The pan size is indicative. You can use even smaller pan and potentially make 4 layers of cookies and frosting. Just test first: arrange only the cookies/ crackers without the frosting, to understand how many layers you can get.
- You may need to warm up the Nutella, before mixing it with the sour cream.
- Remove the cake from the fridge about 15 minutes before serving it.
Variations
Apart from the biscuits, cookies or crackers, you can also vary some of the other ingredients:
- Any chocolate spread can be used instead of Nutella
- Alternatively you can use whipping cream instead of sour cream. You can whip half of it together with the mascarpone. Whip the other half separately before mixing it into the chocolate.
This fridge cake is one of the best mascarpone recipes you can prepare at home! The perfect dessert for the whole family that rarely someone would disapprove. It is quick, easy, no-fail and most importantly: unbelievably delicious!
If you want to check some more of my icebox cake recipes, here is a short selection:
- No Bake Cookie Cake with Lemon Mousse
- Easy Banoffee Mess Cake
- Easy Icebox Cake with Dulce de Leche
- No Bake Berry Ice Box Cake
📝 Recipe
Nutella and Mascarpone Biscuit Cake
Equipment
- Electric mixer
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 350g/ 12,3 oz graham crackers , or plain cookies - 24 full sheets of graham crackers (see notes)
- 2 cups/ 500 g mascarpone
- 1 ¾ cup/ 400 g sour cream
- ½ cup/ 60 g powdered sugar
- ¾ cup/ 200 g Nutella or other chocolate spread
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp/ 150 ml milk, cold
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl whip the mascarpone, vanilla, powdered sugar and about half of the sour cream with an electric mixer.
- In another bowl whisk the rest of the sour cream together with the Nutella.
- Pour the milk in a bowl bigger than the size of the crackers/ biscuits. Dip each cracker for just few seconds (harder cookies like the Bulgarian plain biscuits might need to be dipped for 15-20 seconds). Arrange a layer of crackers/ biscuits on the bottom of a 11 x 7 inch/ 28 x 18 cm pan or similar. You may need to break some of them to fit.
- Spread on top about ⅓ of the mascarpone filling. Smooth it out with a spatula.
- Spread ⅓ of the chocolate mixture. It doesn't need to cover well the filling.
- Continue the process two more times.
- Cover the top of the pan with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 6-8 hours or overnight.
- Serve sprinkled with cracker crumps. You can decorate the cake with berries but even plain it is just fine.
Notes
- Kinds of cookies or biscuits that you can use for this dessert: graham crackers, petit beurre, shortbread cookies or any plain rectangular cookies/ biscuits. Alternatively you can use vanilla wafers and arrange them in a round cake pan. Digestive biscuits can work too but you need to break them into small pieces after dipping them in the milk.
- The pan size is indicative. You can potentially use a smaller pan and make 4 layers of crackers/ biscuits + filling, if it is tall enough. Test first by layering only the crackers, so you know in how many parts to divide the fillings.
- You may need to warm up the Nutella, before mixing it with the sour cream.
- This cake is best served 15 minutes after being removed from the fridge.
- Store for up to 5 days refrigerated.
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