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–+ servings
lemon blueberry icebox cake on upside down sheet pan with slice laying in front, a knife beside, blueberries, lemon slices, and flowers around, with stack of plates and empty glasses behind on marble surface

Lemon Blueberry Icebox Cake

5 from 2 votes
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Refrigeration Time 2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes
Author: Traci Crossland
The ultimate summertime dessert! This Lemon Blueberry Icebox Cake is full of flavor, lemon-y, soft, perfectly sweet, and oh so delicious. A guaranteed crowd pleaser!

Ingredients

Blueberry Jam

  • 4 cups blueberries
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup lemon juice

Cake

  • 3 large egg whites room temperature
  • 1/16 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 5 large egg yolks room temperature
  • ⅛ cup sugar
  • 1 cup pastry flour
  • powdered sugar for topping

Lemon Mousse

  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • ⅜ cup lemon juice
  • 2¼ teaspoons lemon zest
  • 4½ Tablespoons salted butter sliced, room temperature
  • 2 cups heavy cream cold

Chantilly Cream

  • 2 cups heavy cream cold
  • 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Blueberry Jam

  • Combine blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a large saucepan.
  • Cook and stir over medium low heat until berries have popped and mixture has thickened, about 20-30 minutes.
  • Remove from heat. Set aside.

Cake

  • Heat oven to 375°F.
  • Line 2 or 3 sheet pans with parchment paper.
  • Draw three 5 inch x 9 inch rectangles on the reverse side of the parchment paper.
  • Beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until foamy.
  • With the mixer running, stream in ¼ cup sugar slowly.
  • Beat to medium stiff peaks.
  • In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks and ⅛ cup sugar to ribbon stage, about 5 minutes.
  • Fold meringue into egg yolk mixture ⅓ at a time.
  • Sift flour over the top and fold in.
  • Spoon batter into a piping bag.
  • Snip off the end so you have a ½ inch opening.
  • Pipe batter into 5 inch x 9 inch rectangles on prepared parchment.
  • Sift powdered sugar over tops.
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes, until just starting to color.

Lemon Mousse

  • In a medium heat proof glass bowl, whisk together sugar, egg yolks, and lemon juice.
  • Place over the top of a pot of simmering water.
  • Cook, stirring continuously, until thickened, about 20 minutes.
  • Remove from heat.
  • Immediately strain into a clean bowl.
  • Add lemon zest.
  • Whisk in butter.
  • Set aside to cool.
  • With an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat cream to stiff peaks.
  • Fold cream into cooled curd ⅓ at a time.

Assembly

  • Line a 5 inch x 9 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap.
  • Trim edges on cake layers, if necessary.
  • Place one cake layer on bottom of loaf pan.
  • Top with half of lemon mousse.
  • Pipe half of jam on top of mousse.
  • Repeat layers.
  • Top with last cake layer.
  • Chill for at least 2 hours.

Chantilly Cream

  • Combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl.
  • Beat with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment to stiff peaks.
  • Remove cake from pan.
  • Frost entire cake with Chantilly cream.

Notes

Substitutions:
  • You can use store bought Ladyfingers to make this recipe, just make sure they’re a soft cookie (typically found in the freezer section), rather than crunchy.
  • Store bought lemon curd can be used, as well as store bought sweetened whipped cream and blueberry jam.
  • Any jam you like can be used in this recipe.
  • Frozen blueberries can be used to make the jam.
Expert Tips:
  • When you’re making the jam, be sure to keep it stirred! You don’t want it to burn on the bottom.
  • If you don’t have pastry flour, use 1/2 cup all purpose flour + 1/2 cup cake flour!
  • Do not skip sifting the flour.
  • Make sure the eggs are at room temperature. Otherwise, you won’t get the volume you need!
  • The meringue needs to be a medium stiff peak. When you lift the beater, you should still see a slight curve at the end of the peak.
  • When piping the ladyfingers, hold the piping bag close to the parchment paper becasuse you don’t want the layers to be too thick.
  • Once you’ve coated the ladyfingers with powdered sugar, get them into the oven quickly! You don’t want the powdered sugar to soak into the batter.
  • After baking, use a spatula to quickly get the ladyfinger layers off of the pans. The more the layers cool, the more likely they are to stick to the parchment paper.
  • When making the curd, the texture should be about pudding consistency. It takes anywhere from 20-25 minutes to thicken. Just be sure to use a heatproof GLASS bowl and place over a simmering (not boiling) pot of water.
  • When layering this dessert, try and get the layers as even as you can! Using an offset spatula tends to be very helpful.
  • The cake needs to be refrigerated for AT LEAST 2 hours, but preferably overnight. This allows time for the ladyfinger layers to absorb moisture and become soft enough to cut cleanly.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 683kcalCarbohydrates: 66gProtein: 9gFat: 45gSaturated Fat: 27gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 323mgSodium: 93mgPotassium: 239mgFiber: 3gSugar: 53gVitamin A: 1861IUVitamin C: 13mgCalcium: 99mgIron: 1mg

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.