Q: Did you hear about the great new restaurant on the moon?
A: The food is excellent, but there’s no atmosphere.

The good old fashioned icebox cake gets a fabulous update in this Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake. Crisp chocolate chip cookies are layered with a coffee-Kahlúa-chocolate-mascarpone whipped cream. After sitting overnight in the fridge, the cookies soften into delectably moist layers. So good.

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups cold heavy cream
12 ounces mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup coffee liqueur, such as Kahlúa
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 (8-ounce) packages chocolate chip cookies (Ina recommends Tate’s Bake Shop and I agree!)
Shaved semisweet chocolate, for garnish

Directions:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream, mascarpone, sugar, coffee liqueur, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and vanilla. Mix on low speed to combine and then slowly increase speed. Beat until mixture forms firm peaks.

2. Arrange chocolate chip cookies in a single layer in an 8-inch springform pan (I used a 9 inch pan), covering as much of the bottom as possible. Break some of the cookies to fill in the spaces.

3. Spread a fifth of the mocha whipped cream evenly over the cookies. Place another layer of cookies on top, followed by another fifth of the cream.

4. Continue layering cookies and cream until there are 5 layers of each, ending with a layer of cream. Smooth the top, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

5. Run a small sharp knife around the outside of the cake and remove the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the top with the shaved chocolate. Serve the sliced cake cold.

Serves 10

Recipe from Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? by Ina Garten

Let that cake settle while listening to this chill, shoegazey tune from Beach Moon/Peach Moon. That guitar outro that slams into a slowdown is amazing.

“We drove to the rainbow
I met my favorite color”

Check out Beach Moon/Peach Moon on Facebook. You can buy their music on Bandcamp.

Cheers!