icebox cake: churro ritz cracker
Introducing Crunchy Spice, Salty Spice, Spicy Spice, Creamy Spice and Caramel Spice.
This “no-bake” recipe is inspired by one of my favorite movie time snacks, dulce de leche and Ritz cracker sandwiches. Simple, yet so decadent, together they’re salty-sweet and buttery perfection. It’s a treat I usually indulge in when I’m home alone, because I just ain’t sharin’.
My original thought was to make a dulce de leche and Ritz cracker icebox cake because that sounds delicious already on its own. However, I wanted to take the icebox cake experience up a notch – incorporate a little spice, deepen the layers of flavor, and alter the texture. My mind immediately went to churros. Deep-fried, golden and delicious churros.
But, we’re not actually frying anything here. Though I suppose we could since frying isn’t technically baking, right? But I wouldn’t do that to y’all. I’m already being bad by including just a little bit of oven work in this supposedly “no-bake” recipe.
So, where do the churros come in? The Ritz crackers serve as our “churro” element in this recipe. The crackers are coated in granulated sugar, cinnamon, butter and milk powder and are baked until caramelized and toasty. They are then tossed in more sugar and cinnamon. So yes, you do have to turn on your oven for this recipe, but it’s well worth it.
The churro Ritz are layered with a silky dulce de leche pastry cream that has been combined with whipped cream (known as diplomat cream), creating a fluffy caramel & dairy delight. The pastry cream offers a rich and creamy base due to the added richness from the egg yolks. When refrigerated, it’s similar in texture to a classic banana pudding. Freeze it for a few hours (my preference) and it becomes a sliceable, custardy ice cream-like cake.
The process for this cake can fall between 2-3 days, depending on how you prepare it. I prep using the following schedule:
Friday Evening: prepare dulce de leche (boiled can method) and dulce de leche pastry cream (for full 12 hour set in fridge)
Saturday: churro-fy Ritz crackers and assemble the icebox cake; set in fridge overnight (12 hours for crunchy, 24 hours for soft)
Sunday: move cake to freezer for a couple hours (optional, you could just eat without freezing); slice and enjoy
Dulce de Leche Notes
I’ve definitely seen canned dulce de leche at some grocery stores, like Target. Trader Joe’s sometimes sells it by the jar and it’s pretty good.
However, I understand it’s not always readily accessible. And as much as I love a scratch-made dulce de leche, we don’t need to add on an extra 2-3 hours of labor to this no-bake recipe.
The following video is super helpful for making dulce de leche from canned condensed milk. I highly recommend using the boiled can method - I typically boil at least three cans at a time and reserve the unused cans for other recipes. You can also sub the dulce de leche in this recipe with Cajeta, you just want to make sure it’s thick cajeta, and not too runny.
When boiling the dulce de leche, boil the cans for at least 3 hours (I usually boil for 3.5 and turn off the heat while the cans continue to sit in the water for 30 minutes). The darker the dulce de leche, the thicker the consistency, which is what we want.
And, if you’re interested or curious…
Here’s what I had on in the background while throwing all this together: Essential 90’s Hip-Hop.
CHURRO RITZ CRACKER ICEBOX CAKE RECIPE
Makes: 1 8” Cake | Prep Time: 1 hour | Cook Time: 4 hours (inactive) & 40 minutes (active) | Chill Time: 12-24 hours
SPECIAL TOOLS
8” Cake Pan or Baking Dish (round or square; 9” will work as well)
Plastic Wrap
Rubber Spatula
1 Small Offset Spatula
Electric Hand Mixer
1 13 x 18” baking sheet
Parchment paper or silpat
INGREDIENTS
Dulce de Leche Diplomat Cream
250 grams whole milk (1 cup)
250 grams heavy cream (1 cup)
4 yolks (from large eggs, about 80 grams)
75 grams cane sugar (¾ cup); can sub w/ granulated)
50 grams cornstarch (¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon coarse sea or kosher salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
65 grams salted butter (2 ounces; or 4 tablespoons)
380 grams dulce de leche (from 1 can)
250 grams heavy cream (1 cup; whipped and folded in later)
Churro Ritz Crackers
3 sleeves of Ritz crackers
100 grams granulated sugar (½ cup)
50 grams milk powder (about ⅓ cup; may sub with flour)
1 tsp. coarse sea salt or kosher salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
165 grams salted butter, melted (6 ounces, or 12 tablespoons)
100 grams sugar (½ cup; for coating after baking)
4 grams ground cinnamon (about 1 TB; for coating after baking)
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare the Dulce de Leche Pastry Cream
To a medium saucepan, combine the whole milk and heavy cream over medium heat.
While the milk mixture is heating, whisk the yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt until the yolks have become pale and voluminous (this takes 2-ish minutes of whisking power).
Once the milk is warm (not simmering, but just hot enough you see steam wafting off the top), pour or ladle about ⅕ of the milk mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking until fully combined. Repeat the process until all the milk has been added (this process is known as tempering, and it’s important to do this process gradually to avoid shocking or scrambling the eggs).
Add the fully combined mixture back into the saucepan on medium low heat.
Whisk the mixture gradually to prevent overcooking.
After minutes of whisking, the custard will begin to thicken. Once the custard thickens enough for the whisk to leave a trail of ripples, remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl (you can strain the pastry cream if desired in case there are any overcooked bits).
Whisk in the butter and vanilla until fully combined and smooth.
Lastly, whisk in the dulce de leche.
Use an immersion blender if you have one to smooth out the pastry cream.
Cover the pastry cream with plastic wrap (make sure the plastic is coming into direct contact with the cream) and allow to cool slightly before placing into the fridge for a 6-12 hour set.
Tip: The dulce de leche can be combined with the pastry cream later if you find your dulce de leche is too warm to work with after boiling. Just wait for the caramel to come to room temperature (typically takes a few hours) and combine it with the fully set pastry cream at your convenience.
Prepare the Churro Ritz Crackers
Preheat the oven to 325 F/165 C, and line a 13 x 18” baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
Melt the butter and set aside.
To a large bowl, combine the Ritz crackers, milk powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon until all the crackers are coated and dusted.
Pour the melted butter over the crackers and combine together using your hands or a rubber spatula. The milk powder and butter will clump together - this is fine and expected.
Move the contents to the lined sheet pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until dark, toasty and caramelized. Check on the crackers every 7-10 minutes and flip them with a spatula for even browning.
Baking Note: You can take the crackers as dark as you’d like - I typically bake them for 30 minutes so that all the milk powder bits are toasty. The longer you bake, the more caramelized and crunchy the crackers become, like a churro <3.
While the crackers are baking, combine the 100 grams of sugar with 4 grams of cinnamon, and set aside.
Allow the crackers to cool for about 5 minutes before moving them to a large bowl. Combine the crackers with the sugar and cinnamon mixture, tossing them and coating them with your hands.
Move the crackers back to the sheet pan and spread them out, reserving the sugar and crumbles that did not stick for topping the icebox cake.
Make the Dulce de Leche Diplomat Cream
Remove the fully set pastry cream from the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes to soften (mix with a rubber spatula or whisk to loosen it up).
In a separate bowl, whip 8 ounces of cold heavy cream using an electric hand mixer, just until stiff peaks have begun to form.
Add about a ¼ of the pastry cream to the whipped cream and combine using the hand mixer (set to medium speed). Repeat with another ¼ amount, and continue to add more pastry cream gradually until it’s all fully combined, whipped and fluffy.
Assemble the Cake
Line an 8” cake pan or baking dish (round or square) with plastic wrap. This will ensure easy removal of the icebox cake. You can also assemble the cake in a deep serving dish and skip the plastic wrap step.
Lay down about ¾ - 1 cup of the dulce de leche cream and spread it evenly in the pan. Follow with a single layer of Ritz crackers.
Repeat the layers again until the pan is full to the brim - you should have a total of 5 layers of crackers, and 6 layers of custard.
Reserve the remaining crackers as a snack for later, or for decorating the top of the icebox cake slices.
Secure the top of the icebox cake with plastic wrap and place it into the fridge for at least 12 hours.
After 12 hours of refrigeration, the cake is custardy and the crackers have maintained some of their crunch, resulting in a very texturally satisfyingly treat if you like a crunchy/smooth contrast.
After 24 hours, the crackers have softened further, and the cake is now easier to slice using just a fork.
As you serve the cake, you can invert it onto a serving dish and remove the plastic wrap. The cake slices easily into 9-12 servings. Sprinkle with the excess cinnamon sugar bits, and enjoy.
Thank you for reading!
As mentioned before, some recipes will only be available for paid subscribers going forward (at $5 a month). I will continue to write free recipes as well. I work 40 hours a week, and devote at least 16 hours to recipe testing and baking every weekend (not including extra hours I devote to writing during the week after work). I am so, SO happy and fulfilled in the kitchen, however recipe testing is still a lot of work (and expensive, phew).
As someone who would eventually like to compile all these recipes into a physical book (and do this baking thing full-time) I appreciate the support very much.
Thanks y’all!! <3
-Channey