Chocolate-Mint Icebox Cake and Some Chilling Thoughts

I remember when my last refrigerator died. It was chock-full of food and several days before the holidays. There’s never a convenient time for the refrigerator to go. Emergency resuscitation failed. The food was quickly scooped into coolers, and I made a frantic trip to the local appliance store. A replacement was delivered within about 24 hours. That chocolate brown beauty of a fridge – circa 1970 – had done an honorable tour of duty. The spanking new compact Hotpoint Refrigerator Freezer seemed ultra-modern. It certainly was, compared to these vintage models on display at the exhibit “America’s Kitchens” at the Long Island Museum at Stony Brook.

It’s easy to take the refrigerator for granted, but it is an essential kitchen tool. If you’ve never considered the maintenance-free qualities of the modern refrigerator, take a look at this passage from the booklet, “2000 Useful Facts About Food,” published in 1941 and a birthday gift from my friend Miss Tera.

In the section, “Care of the Automatic Refrigerator,” the author writes:

Defrost and clean refrigerator once every week or 10 days. Turn temperature control to defrost. Remove ice trays. (Ice cubes may be kept in a vacuum jar for several hours.) Remove food from refrigerator. Leave door open. Ice trays may be filled with tepid water to hasten defrosting. Do not chip ice from freezing unit with any sharp instrument. Wash inside of box and inside and outside of freezing unit with a solution of soda and warm water. Remove shelves and wash. Rinse with clear warm water. When defrosted, empty water collected in drip tray. Turn control to normal operation (if not automatic.)

This sounds like just the kind of household job I’d like to take on every week to 10 days.

It is precisely because I am lazy, that I recently decided to upgrade my refrigerator/freezer –that, and a desire to have more room to store the vegetables anticipated from the upcoming summer CSA season. You’ve probably gotten the sense that there is a bit of a kitchen renovation in progress right now here on suburban Long Island. The latest addition is GE® Energy Star Refrigerator with bottom freezer drawer, and “CleanSteel” doors that resist pesky fingerprints. It looks like something out of the Jetsons.

There is plenty of room for fruits and vegetables, chilled wine, and lots of wide shelf space to hold special cake projects. My sister-in-law Ramiza is convinced I have an incurable condiment problem, and now I’ve got a designated section to keep condiments organized and easy to access. My decluttering guru was not at all happy with the state of my baking cabinet, so she’ll be pleased to see that I’ve started out on the right foot organizing the new refrigerator. Everything is visible and has its place.

It’s easy to brag about your organizational skills when you start fresh. I’m not so willing to share photographs of my cupboards for Lydia’s “Other People’s Pantries” feature.

A classic no-bake Icebox Cake seemed like the perfect recipe to christen the new refrigerator. Chocolate wafers are stacked with layers of mint-flavored whipped cream to create a log that is covered with the remaining whipped cream and sprinkled with chocolate morsels. The cookie layers become soft and cake-like as the roll chills. You can find the recipe here. The most famous version of the recipe is found here.

It’s a sweet finish to dinner with good friends, and if you happen to serve this Icebox Cake during a blackout, be sure to slice quickly, because even the most modern refrigerator still needs electricity to keep a no-bake cake from melting.

©2010 T.W. Barritt all Rights Reserved