Lemon Blueberry Icebox Cake

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!

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 45

Cook Time: 1

Refrigeration Time: 2

Total Time: 3 45

Servings: slices

Calories: 683kcal

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 granulated sugar
5 large egg yolks room temperature
⅛ cup granulated 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

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/190℃.
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