Lemon Icebox Cake Recipe

A few years ago, a friend introduced me to Bill Smith’s Atlantic Beach pie. The dessert, inspired by the many childhood summers the chef spent in North Carolina, has a buttery saltine crust, a tangy filling of condensed milk and lemon juice, and a lofty pouf of whipped cream on top. Salty, sweet, and creamy, the pie tastes exactly like a summer day at the beach, if it were dessert. And the memory of that first bite has stayed with me through the years—so much so that I make Smith’s pie each summer and have now come up with an icebox cake recipe inspired by it.

There are a few key differences, though. Really, my recipe is a mash-up of Smith’s dessert and another classic confection: the lemon meringue pie. Smith makes his crust by tossing crushed Saltines with butter and sugar; here, I reach for Ritz crackers, which have a rich, savory flavor without the need for additional butter. And instead of a filling of lemon juice, condensed milk, and egg yolks, I opt for layers of lemon curd—which you can prepare from scratch or purchase from the store—and whipped cream. Finally, there’s the lemon meringue pie’s signature topping of a torched meringue that coats the entire cake. 

The best part? There is no baking required. All you have to do is layer the components in a loaf pan, plop it in the fridge, and wait. Make it the night before you have a party, and your dessert will practically be done by the time you wake up. All that’s left to do is unmold the cake and brown the meringue with a kitchen torch. Like my favorite lemon desserts, this icebox cake is pleasantly tangy, with just enough saltiness and whipped cream to balance the curd’s sweetness. Here’s how to make it.

7 Tips for Making a Zesty Lemon Icebox Cake

Make your own lemon curd. Though lemon curd is readily available in grocery stores, it’s worth taking the time to make your own curd, which allows you to adjust for sweetness. In my lemon curd recipe, I call for rubbing the lemon zest with sugar before cooking to help draw out the citrus fruit’s fragrant oils, resulting in a more flavorful curd.

Line your loaf pan with plastic wrap. Like my s’mores icebox cake recipe and strawberry icebox cake recipe, the key to successfully unmolding this cake is lining your loaf pan with plastic wrap before you assemble. Make sure the plastic hangs over the edge of the pan so you can easily hold onto it as you unmold the cake. To unmold your icebox cake, simply remove the plastic wrap from the top of the cake, invert it onto a rimmed baking sheet, then remove the loaf pan and discard the remaining plastic.

Use a savory cracker. For a salty-sweet dessert, I recommend using a savory cracker. Though I use Ritz here, saltines would also be delicious. Avoid sugar cookies, shortbread, or vanilla wafers, as they won’t provide the savory contrast needed.

Let your fridge and freezer do the hard work for you. Refrigerating the cake for at least six hours helps the crackers soften to a cake-like texture, and allows them to soak up the flavors of the tangy curd. After you unmold the cake, freeze it for at least an hour to ensure it’s cold enough to frost, torch, and slice without melting into a puddle.

Allow the cake to come to room temperature. A frozen cake is easier to slice, but unless you want to chip a tooth, I recommend letting the cake sit at room temperature for ten minutes, which will soften it slightly and allow the flavors to become more pronounced. The cake will still be cold, but you won’t have to suffer a broken tooth or brain freeze. 

Frost with Italian meringue. As I noted in my s’mores icebox cake recipe, Italian meringue for an icebox cake may be a little “extra”—but I prefer the more neutral flavor and thickness of Italian meringue. To make an Italian meringue, you slowly pour a hot sugar syrup into whipping egg whites, which cooks and stabilizes the mixture. But if that feels a bit too fussy for you, feel free to use marshmallow fluff. 

For the toastiest meringue, use a blowtorch. Using a blowtorch allows you to evenly toast the meringue without heating the cake too much. But if you don’t own a blowtorch, you can approach this like you would a baked Alaska by toasting the meringue in the oven. Just make sure your cake is properly frozen—otherwise you’ll end up with lemon meringue soup.