Cool Whip Is The Icebox Cake Ingredient That Will Make Your Life Infinitely Easier

Icebox cakes are synonymous with ease — they're not only dead simple to make, but a prime example of American convenience cooking of the 1950s and 60s, when it was all the rage to throw pre-packaged foods together into one dish. It only makes sense to make this dessert even easier by using another product from the same time: Cool Whip, born in 1966.

What makes an icebox cake unique is that it's not really a cake at all. Most recipes instruct to layer store-bought cookies or crackers and other fixin's with whipped cream in a dish, then stick it in the fridge (aka the icebox). Using Cool Whip is not only easier than whipping cream by hand, but makes the cake even better to prepare in advance. Pure whipped cream only lasts for a few hours before it starts losing air bubbles, then it begins weeping liquid and collapsing. Outside of the fridge, it turns into a puddle even faster.

You can avoid a massive icebox cake fail by stabilizing your whipped cream, but Cool Whip already contains stabilizing ingredients, so it won't melt nearly as quickly. An unopened tub retains its smooth, creamy texture for two weeks in the fridge and for months in the freezer. You won't have to set aside time to whip cream during a busy summer celebration, nor will your dessert lose its shape as it sits. Defrost some Cool Whip, and you're halfway to a salted caramel icebox cake.

Stabilized whipped toppings support layers of ingredients well, so you can add all sorts of goodies to your Cool Whip icebox cake. For starters, transform Oreo cookies into an indulgent icebox cake with just 3 ingredients: milk, Oreos, and Cool Whip. A topping of crumbled Oreos is a no-brainer, but you can also add thin pieces of chocolate, a few fresh cherries, or a hefty pour of chocolate sprinkles. Try a drop of mint extract and a touch of green food coloring in the Whip for a minty chocolate delight.

In the mood for fruit? Swap Cool Whip in for the heavy cream in our matcha strawberry icebox cake recipe, which also contains cream cheese, a popular ingredient to stabilize whipped cream. With a double whammy of stabilizers, you can assemble this treat at least a day in advance. To send your dinner party guests on a wild ride of nostalgia, use Cool Whip in a Creamsicle-inspired icebox cake recipe that would make 1950s-era Betty Crocker proud.

When freestyling your own icebox cake, try mixing ground spices, chopped nuts, or cocoa powder into the Cool Whip and pair with chocolate cookies or graham crackers. Citrus zest or powdered freeze-dried fruit stirred into the Whip would pair brilliantly with vanilla wafers spread with a thin layer of jam or marmalade. Just make sure to follow other tips for making a delicious icebox cake, such as avoiding overly thick cookies and being careful with the layering.