No Bake Eggnog Icebox Cake

This post is sponsored by Walkers Shortbread, but all opinions are my own.

This Eggnog Icebox Cake has layers of a light and airy eggnog mouse, Walkers Shortbread, and whipped cream. It’s no bake, so it’s nice and easy to put together and is perfect for sharing for the holidays!

I don’t know about you, but we’ve been indulging in eggnog since it arrived in stores. I’m pretty sure we’ve been through at least 10 cartons of it already. I’m not even kidding. If you can’t tell, we are big eggnog fans. So naturally the idea of eating it in a delicious icebox cake was perfect! 🙂

We are also shortbread fans. The hubs loves dipping shortbread into tea and I love baking with it. So I was obviously excited to work with Walkers Shortbread on incorporating their tasty cookies into this icebox cake. They compliment it perfectly!

So let’s talk a little bit about how to put this tasty cake together.

To start, you’ll want to make the eggnog mousse. Eggnog can be a subtle flavor if you don’t use enough and I wanted to be sure that the eggnog shined bright. You’ll use 3/4 cup of eggnog and heat it on the stove with one tablespoon of cornstarch. Once it gets hot and starts to simmer and thicken, you’ll sprinkle the powdered gelatin on and whisk to incorporate it.

If you aren’t real familiar with gelatin, do not fear. It’s really easy to use, especially in this recipe. Once it’s added to the eggnog, you’ll just whisk it into the mixture until smooth.

Once everything is well combined, set it aside to cool. It doesn’t have to cool all the way to room temperature, but you do want it to be cool enough that it won’t melt or soften the other ingredients too much. I usually put it into another bowl and place it in the fridge for maybe 4-5 minutes. Don’t let it get too firm, or it’ll be lumpy when you add it to the rest of the ingredients.

While the eggnog mixture cools, combine the cream cheese, sugar and nutmeg until smooth. When ready, add the eggnog mixture and mix until it’s all well combined. The final step for the mousse is to add the whipped cream. You’ll want to gently fold it in so that you don’t deflate it.

With the mousse ready to go, it’s time to put everything together! You’ll want to have a 9-inch springform pan. With the removable sides, it makes it much easier to remove the cake once it’s ready. I also find it’s best to line the sides of the pan with parchment paper to be sure nothing sticks. Then when you remove the cake, you can just peel the parchment back. Another option is to use cake collars, if you have them on hand.

The first layer begins with Walkers Shortbread. Dip each cookie into the eggnog and milk mixture and hold it there for 3-4 seconds. You might be temped to use all eggnog, instead of the eggnog and milk mixture but take it from me that the mixture is the better way to go. Eggnog alone is quite thick and doesn’t soak into the shortbread and soften it as well.

Make a full layer of shortbread cookies, then top the shortbread with half of the eggnog mousse. Repeat another layer of shortbread and the remaining eggnog mousse, then finish off the cake with the whipped cream.

The icebox cake needs to be refrigerate for 5-6 hours before removing from the pan so it’s nice and firm. I actually froze mine first, to make it easier to remove from the pan, then placed it in the fridge. You can do it either way, I just felt like it was easier to work with when taking it out of the pan when frozen. It’s plenty firm when refrigerated too. I certainly prefer eating it when refrigerated over frozen. The mousse is light and eggnog-y, the shortbread softens up and the buttery cookies add the perfect flavor.

This really is the ideal holiday treat! It’s so easy to make – which is important this time of year when there is so much to do – but it still makes a great presentation. And it’s made with one of my favorite flavors of the season. Plus, Walkers Shortbread. Yum!

No Bake Eggnog Icebox Cake

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• Yield: 9 Inch Icebox Cake, 14-16 Slices
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Stove
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

EGGNOG MOUSSE

• 3/4 cup eggnog
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 0.25 oz bag powdered gelatin
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

WHIPPED CREAM

• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS

• 6 tbsp eggnog
• 6 tbsp milk
• 2 1/2 packages (5.3 oz) of Walkers Shortbread

Instructions

1. Add eggnog and cornstarch to a sauce pan and heat on medium-high until eggnog is hot and just starting to simmer around the edges. Do not boil.

2. Sprinkle gelatin over eggnog and turn heat to low. Whisk gelatin into eggnog until smooth, then remove from heat and set aside to cool. (I put it into another bowl and then in the fridge to speed cooling – about 4-5 minutes)

3. In another bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and nutmeg until smooth.

4. Add eggnog mixture to cream cheese mixture and mix until well combined.

5. In another bowl, whip heavy whipping cream for mousse until it starts to thicken.

6. Add powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.

7. Carefully fold whipped cream into eggnog mixture.

8. Prepare a 9-inch springform pan by lining the sides with parchment paper that sticks about an inch above the sides of the pan.

9. In a small bowl, combine additional eggnog and milk.

10. Make a single layer of shortbread in the bottom of the pan. As you add the shortbread to the pan, dip each cookie into the eggnog and milk mixture and hold it there for 3-4 seconds.

11. Top the shortbread with half of the eggnog mixture.

12. Repeat steps 10 and 11, then make whipped cream for the top. Whip heavy whipping cream until it starts to thicken.

13. Add powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.

14. Set about 1/3 cup of whipped cream aside for piping on the edges of the cake, then spread the rest into an even layer on top of the cake.

15. Place cake in the fridge for 5-6 hours to firm, or set in the freezer. I prefer to freeze it first to make it easier to remove from the pan, then leave it in the fridge.

16. Once cake has been removed from the pan, pipe remaining whipped cream around the edges.

17. Store cake in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Notes

Cake can be made ahead and frozen until ready to serve. Defrost cake in refrigerator before serving.

Enjoy!

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