14 : The Ordinary (but not so ordinary) Refrigerator Cake

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This week, my dear husband and I slept separately for the first time in two months. He had some things to attend to in the Batangas farm, while I stayed with my family in Alabang for some quality time with my sister who is leaving to work in Singapore in a few weeks. So we kept communication lines up through phone calls and texting as though we were boyfriend and girlfriend, exchanging jokes and friendly taunts, when he hit me with this text : "I bet you can't make a refrigerator cake."

Of course, he knew I could, having been educated in pastry arts at some point in my past life. And for my part, I knew that he just wanted me to greet him with a refrigerator cake when he came home from the farm. (I'll say, just because my husband eats like a caveman, it doesn't mean he doesn't crave some neolithic foods from time to time).

If nothing else, this dessert should be called a trifle. But if not, it's as easy as a trifle anyway :)

The refrigerator cake is a very popular dessert. It's quick, it's easy, and doesn't require the use of an oven. It has 3 main ingredients: cookies, a cream filling, and a fruit filling. That said, it is a very customizable dessert (in fact, I just put mine together without a recipe). In the Philippines, the most common refrigerator cake is made with lady fingers, a concoction of condensed milk and all purpose cream, and canned fruit like fruit cocktail or peaches. In fact, you might find a recipe for refrigerator cake on the labels of those products.

Ingredients:
Graham crackers
1    big can of sweetened condensed milk
2   cups of real cream (not all purpose cream)
1   8oz bar of cream cheese
canned peaches (I used 1-1/2 cans of peach halves)
toasted nuts (I used cashew)

* I left out the amount for the crackers, peaches, and nuts, because they would all depend on the size of your container

All purpose cream in our grocery store includes hydrogenated oils in it's ingredients. It's about as real as a Santa Unicorn. Use real cream from the refrigerated section.

Any store bought cookie can be used. This time, I turned to old reliable Grahams.

Drain your canned fruit very well. If you don't the extra liquid from the fruit will turn your layered dessert into watery mess. It will still taste good, but you sure won't blog about it :)

Toast nuts before including in your recipe. It makes a huge difference taste-wise.

Inside layers don't have to be pretty, but layering is easier if you're neat.

Procedure:

1. Soften the cream cheese and chill the cream.
   
2. Toast the nuts in a shallow pan over the stove. Let cool and chop.
   
3. Drain the peaches very well, then slice into quarter inch pieces. You may go thicker or thinner if you wish.
4. Soften the cheese and cream with a whisk or wooden spoon until it is light, then mix in the condensed milk. Stir or whisk until smooth.
5. Whip chilled cream until it forms peaks. Fold into the cream cheese and milk mixture.
6. Take a deep rectangular or square dish (Pyrex baking dishes are perfect). Layer as many crackers as would cover the bottom of the dish. Cover this layer with 1/3 of the cream mixture. Arrange 1/2 of the sliced fruit neatly on top of the cream and sprinkle with 1/3 of the nuts.
   
7. Create the second layer by repeating step 6. Then create the top layer pouring what is remaining of the cream mixture over a layer of graham cracker. Top with nuts.
8. Refrigerate for up to 6 hours or overnight before serving.
   

If you like the cream filling, you will be glad to know that it matches with other fruits. So you can actually make your own unique refrigerator cake. Mr. Diaz will be proud. Enjoy!