Strawberry Icebox Cake

Instructions

1. 1

   Slice and dress the strawberries

   Hull the strawberries and slice them about 1/4 inch thick. Thinner than that and they turn to mush overnight; thicker and they push the cracker layers apart. Pick out the prettiest third of the slices, cover them, and refrigerate separately for the top. Put the rest in a bowl with the strawberry jam and stir gently until every slice is lightly coated and glossy.

2. 2

   Smooth the mascarpone

   In a large bowl, beat the cold mascarpone with the powdered sugar on medium speed for 30 to 45 seconds, just until smooth and no lumps remain. Starting here, rather than dumping everything in at once, is what keeps the finished cream silky instead of speckled.

3. 3

   Whip the cream into it

   With the mixer on low, pour in about a third of the heavy cream and beat until the mixture loosens into a smooth, pourable base. Add the remaining cream, the vanilla, lemon zest, and salt, then raise the speed gradually to medium-high. Whip until the cream holds firm peaks that stand up straight on the beater, roughly 2 to 3 minutes. Stop the moment it gets there. Mascarpone tightens fast, and a few seconds too long turns the whole bowl grainy.

4. 4

   Lay the first layer

   Spread a thin smear of cream across the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan, just enough to glue things down. Cover it with graham cracker sheets in a single layer, snapping them to fit tight against the corners and each other. You'll use roughly 7 sheets per layer.

5. 5

   Build the cake

   Spread about a quarter of the cream over the crackers in an even sheet, right to the edges. Scatter a third of the jam-coated strawberries across it in a single layer, overlapping slightly. Repeat the sequence twice more: crackers, cream, berries. You should end up with four cracker layers total, so lay the last one down and spread the remaining cream over the top.

6. 6

   Chill overnight

   Swirl the top cream with the back of a spoon, cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap without letting it touch the surface, and refrigerate at least 8 hours, ideally overnight. This isn't idle waiting. The crackers are drinking in moisture from the cream, and until they do, the cake slices like a stack of cookies instead of cake.

7. 7

   Top and serve

   Just before serving, arrange the reserved strawberry slices over the top. Slice with a long knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between cuts for clean edges. The cake should give easily under the knife with no crunch at all; if you still feel resistance in the cracker layers, give it another hour in the fridge.

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Baker's Tips

• 1.

  Chill the bowl and beaters for 15 minutes before whipping. Cold cream whips faster, higher, and holds its structure longer in the fridge.

• 2.

  Cream cheese, softened to room temperature, swaps in for the mascarpone one-for-one. It's tangier and slightly firmer but behaves the same way.

• 3.

  If your strawberries are very juicy, blot the slices on paper towels before tossing them with jam. Excess liquid pools at the bottom of the pan and makes the base layer soggy rather than cakey.

• 4.

  Thirty minutes in the freezer before slicing firms the cake up enough for picture-perfect squares. Don't leave it longer or the berries freeze solid.

• 5.

  Skip frozen strawberries here. They release far too much water as they thaw and will flood the layers.

• 6.

  An offset spatula makes spreading the cream in thin, even sheets much easier than a spoon, and even layers are what give you clean stripes in the cross-section.

Equipment

• 9x13-inch baking pan or dish
• Stand mixer or electric hand mixer
• Large mixing bowl
• Offset spatula
• Paring knife
• Plastic wrap

Storage