I’ve gone on record saying that Pumpkin Pie is the only pumpkin dessert allowed on Thanksgiving, and I stick by it. But there’s no rule in this house against pumpkin desserts of other kinds on other days of the year. I crave pumpkin in the fall (like everyone else it seems), and I love it in pumpkin bread, pumpkin ice cream, even pumpkin yogurt – everywhere except in my coffee. Pour me a scalding cup of strong black coffee, please, and I’ll have it with a towering slice of this creamy, cool, light-as-air Pumpkin Spice Icebox Cake.
For a dessert that’s so simple to make – no cooking! – this icebox cake is pretty spectacular. It’s gorgeous to look at with its subtle burnt-orange stripes and its crown of white cream dusted with shards of crushed toffee candy. The texture is somewhere between a cake and a mousse, fluffy and light, dissolving on your tongue. The cool creaminess contrasts with the warm flavors of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove.
I thought about downsizing this dessert, as I often do – it’s just John and me here and we have no business eating a full-sized icebox cake. But at this size, the recipe tidily uses the whole can of pumpkin. And it would be great for a family dinner or on a holiday party buffet, once we start having those again.
(By the way, if you did want to make a smaller version of this recipe, or any recipe calling for a partial can of pumpkin, use the remains of the can to make a batch of yummy Pumpkin Pancakes. Or stir a dollop of pumpkin into your morning oatmeal along with a sprinkle of cinnamon, for a great, healthy fall breakfast.)
Even though this isn’t a miniature dessert, I do use a small pan – 6 inches square, 3 inches deep. I like a small-but-deep pan for making icebox cake, because it means you make more layers, and more layers give an icebox cake better texture. When you have many thin layers of cookies (or, in this case, graham crackers) alternating with soft mousse filling, the two meld magically into something completely unrecognizable, and mind-bogglingly similar to actual cake. You’ll be really pleased with yourself when you unmold your creation and marvel at what it’s become after a few hours’ rest in the refrigerator.
If you don’t have a 6-inch pan, use whatever size you have. In a larger pan you’ll make fewer layers; adjust according to how many graham crackers will fit your pan in a single layer.
Take care with the way you arrange the graham crackers to make the layers. Break up the crackers and piece them together to fit in a single layer. Pressing the corner of a graham cracker snugly into each corner of the pan helps to form a neater shape with smoother sides when you unmold the cake, after it’s had time to firm up.
Making this ahead and what to do with leftovers:
- Another gift presented to you by this Pumpkin Spice Icebox Cake: not only is it delicious and easy to make, it’s meant to be made ahead. You can make it early in the day (at least 6 hours before serving), but it’s even better made the day before.
- Leftovers will keep for a couple of days. The whipped cream may wilt a bit and the graham crackers will soften, so the cake will become less firm over time but will still taste great. I leave it on the platter, uncovered, in the fridge – moving it to a storage container without breaking it would be difficult, and to cover it with plastic wrap would make a mess of the topping.
For a complete fall menu that features this dish, see my post for Saturday October 17, 2020.
Pumpkin Spice Icebox Cake
Start early in the day or the day before serving.
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups cold heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided
- ½ cup mascarpone
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, or ¼ teaspoon Morton’s
- One 15-ounce can (1¾ cups) pumpkin puree
- 15 or 16 graham crackers (1 cracker = one full sheet with four rectangular sections)
- 2 chocolate-covered toffee candy bars (such as Heath), crushed
Directions
- Step 1 Tear a 6-inch-wide strip of plastic wrap and lay it in a 6-inch square, 3-inch deep cake pan so that one end of the plastic wrap extends out to one side of the pan. Use another strip to overlap that strip in the middle of the pan and extend out the other side. Use two more strips of plastic wrap going the other way so that you end up with the pan fully lined with plastic wrap and flaps extending out on all 4 sides. This method of lining the pan (using strips just as wide as the pan), will minimize bunching of the plastic wrap in the corners, making it easier to build the layers of the icebox cake. Once the pan is lined, set it aside.
- Step 2 Use a hand-held mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment to whip the cream together with the confectioner’s sugar and ½ teaspoon of the vanilla until it forms firm peaks. Chill the whipped cream while making the pumpkin mixture.
- Step 3 Put the mascarpone, brown sugar, molasses, spices and salt in another mixing bowl and beat the mixture until it’s smooth and well mixed. (You can use the same beaters or whisk as you used for the cream, no need to wash it in between). Beat in the pumpkin and the remaining 1 teaspoon of vanilla, until smooth.
- Step 4 Spoon about one-third of the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture and fold gently with a spoon or rubber spatula to incorporate it. Add another one-third of the whipped cream, folding very gently to keep the mixture airy and fluffy. Chill the remaining whipped cream for later.
- Step 5 Dollop about one-sixth of the pumpkin mixture into the prepared cake pan and spread it out in a thin, even layer, being careful to keep the plastic wrap against the side of the pan. Break 2 graham cracker sheets in half into squares. Press one square of graham cracker into each corner of the pan, snugging the corner of the cracker into the corner of the pan to push the plastic wrap against the pan. Once all the corner crackers are in place, you should have a cross-shaped section of bare pumpkin in the center. Break one more graham cracker into 4 rectangles, and arrange the rectangles in the spaces between the squares, so the pumpkin is completely covered with crackers. If you still have a gap in the center of the pan, break up another cracker into small pieces and use one piece to fill the hole. Repeat the layers four more times, first spreading out one-sixth of the pumpkin, then topping with 3 graham crackers for each layer, breaking them up to fit and making sure to square the corners. (Five layers of cake using 3 graham crackers for each layer equals 15 crackers, with the 16th for filling in holes as needed.) Spread the final one-sixth of the pumpkin on top of the last layer of graham crackers.
- Step 6 Take the flaps of plastic wrap that extend out the sides of the pan and gently fold them in to cover the pumpkin mixture. Chill the cake for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
- Step 7 When ready to serve, re-whip the reserved whipped cream briefly to revive it to firm peaks. Carefully pull back the plastic wrap from the top of the cake and invert the cake onto a platter. Remove the pan and carefully peel away the plastic wrap. Spread the whipped cream over the top of the cake, and scatter the top of the whipped cream with shards of the toffee candy or pecans.
