No Bake Summer Berry Icebox Cake

This Summer Berry Icebox Cake comes together in just 10 minutes with 4 ingredients! It’s incredibly creamy and delicious – and it’s perfect for a 4th of July red white blue party.

Recipe first shared on Savory Nothings.

Easy icebox cake with berries

If you ask me – this icebox cake is the ideal summer dessert: There’s minimal work involved, you can use plenty of fresh summer berries and the pan will be empty before you can say “sunshine” 😉 

If you want to avoid processed ingredients, feel free to make your own whipped cream instead of using whipped topping. You’ll need a few extra minutes, but it works.

Icebox cake ingredients

Here is an overview of the ingredients I used. Skip to the recipe for quantities.

To make this icebox cake, you need 4 basic ingredients: Cookies or crackers, whipped topping, cream cheese and berries. So simple!

Ingredient notes

• I always use a mix of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries here. Feel free to use just a single berry, or even canned blueberry or cherry pie filling!
• As you can see in the photos below, I had to resort to frozen raspberries inside the cake – *somebody* had snuck most of the fresh raspberries off the counter! So, frozen berries work well and are also cheaper than fresh.
• To use homemade whipped cream, skip the whipped topping and beat 2 cups heavy whipping cream (well chilled!) with 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to stiff peaks.

How to make an icebox cake

First, I make the filling:

Beat the cream cheese, then fold in 3 1/2 cups thawed whipped topping.

Then, I layer the cake in my pan:

The layering is kind of the most important part – you’ll want it to look pretty after all! I always layer the cake in this order:

1. A little cream filling (just to cover the bottom)
2. Graham crackers
3. 1/3 of the cream mix
4. 2 1/2 cups berries
5. 1/3 of the cream mix
6. Graham crackers
7. Remaining cream mix
8. Decorate with remaining berries

Note: I always chill the cake overnight, because I like the graham crackers very soft. You can get away with 4 hours if you’re in a hurry.

Recipe tips and tricks

Spread the cream well over the berries to fill any gaps, otherwise you’ll have large air pockets in your cake… and trust me: people will be mad at you if you give them a slice of cake that’s half air.

Not a tip but a side note: When I made this dessert to photograph it for the blog, my BEATERS BROKE. Goodness, why! I had to whip the filling by hand with a sturdy whisk. It was such a workout – but in case you were wondering, it works without a mixer, too. It just takes… A long while.

Storage

Refrigerator: You can keep the cake in the fridge for 2-3 days. It never lasts that long around here, but hey – in theory, it would last for that long.

Freezer: You can also freeze this one! Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours first, then wrap the entire pan very well first in plastic wrap and then in aluminium foil. Label with the name and date, freeze for up to 3 months.

I recommend defrosting it in the fridge overnight!

Icebox cake FAQs

As a final word, let me just put it this way: If you’re going to make this cake, hide it from yourself. You’ve been warned 😉

If you try this recipe, don’t forget to leave a review by tapping or clicking the stars in the recipe card below!