(lively music) - Greetings, my beautiful lovelies. It's Emmy. How are you? It's great to see you and welcome back. Today, we are going to be
making a 10-minute ice box cake. Now, that 10 minutes does not include any refrigeration time. This is just the assembly
of the dessert itself, which sounds fabulous. A dessert in 10 minutes? You could do it the day
before; let it sit overnight; and then you're off to your picnic, to your cookout with
a dessert ready to go. Now this recipe came to me via
Food52, via Kenji Lopez-Alt. And he learned it from his wife Adriana, who learned it from her Aunt Gloria. And it's a Colombian dessert that only requires four ingredients
and ten minutes of work, and it's supposed to
taste absolutely smashing. Now, in terms of flavor,
it is very reminiscent of a key lime pie, but we don't
have to deal with any crust, or any baking, any raw eggs,
any whipping of eggs... Nope, we're just gonna use
four magic ingredients. In fact, this is very similar to the Carlota de Limon recipe
I did a couple years ago. I'll put a link to that down below. Another ice box cake that uses
lime juice, condensed milk... That one uses evaporated
milk and Maria Cookies. Fabulous recipe. This one's slightly different. And I really wanna try it
because it uses crackers. Now, Kenji's recipe
recommends Ritz Crackers because they're readily
available here in the U.S., but in Colombia, they use
these, and these are Ducales, and these are a buttery cracker. And I thought I would do half
the recipe with the Ducales and half with the Ritz, just so I can have a little
side-by-side comparison. I ordered this from the internet. Give thanks to the internet for things like getting Colombian crackers here in New England. But let's give these a taste -- I've never had them before. So these are the Colombian
crackers, Ducales, that are typically used
to make this dessert. And let's open them up. (plastic crackling) Oh my gosh, wow, they're double wrapped. Oh, cool. So within this package, there
are two smaller packages. Great. We're gonna compare that
side-by-side with Ritz Crackers. Oh, look at this. This is so cute. Look how they're perforated. Can you see that? So you can take one big
cracker and break it into six. I love that. Let's try to do it. Oh, snaps beautifully. Oh, yes. Look, you can make a little tiny sandwich, like a little cheese sandwich. Look how tiny it is. Oh, I love it. Alrighty, let's give them a taste. Here we go. Itadakimasu! (crackers crushing) Wow, very similar to a Ritz Cracker. That's just based on my memory. Very light crunch. Short, crisp, with a buttery flavor. But just off the top of my head, it doesn't seem as
salty, but very similar. (crackers crunching) Uh-huh, just different shape. All right, now let's try the Ritz Cracker. (crackers crunching) Hm. I'm so glad I'm doing this side by side because memory says, "Yes, identical," but when you have side by side, not. Ritz Cracker is a little bit thicker. (cracker crunching) And a little denser. Ducales or a little lighter. (cracker crunching) Uh-huh, lighter and airier. But in terms of flavor, almost identical. (cracker crunching) Uh-huh, pretty good dupe, I would say. Pretty good dupe if you can't
find the Ducales crackers. So what I'm gonna do is do a side-by-side. I'm gonna make half with
Ducales and half with Ritz, and then we'll taste them and see if it makes any difference at all with the final product. So from my understanding, this recipe is very popular in
Latin America, the Americas. And as I mentioned earlier, I did a Mexican version
called the Carlota de Limon, which uses a biscuit cracker. So if you would like
to make this your own, you certainly could use any
kind of cookie you like. I've heard versions of this
made with Graham Crackers. I think that would taste a little bit more like what I imagine a key lime pie would taste like, with a graham cracker crust and this kind of sweet,
tangy lime filling. Having said that, I'm very curious and intrigued to see what savory crackers
taste like in this application, as opposed to the Maria
Biscuits I used last time. So we'll need a large bowl, and we'll also need some heavy cream and a whisk, condensed milk. Oh, I was gonna start mixing,
but I need lime juice. So before I get a little ahead of myself, we're going to juice some fresh limes. Now, what is so kind of
magical about this recipe is that the pudding kind of mixture that we add to the layers of crackers is just a combination
of three ingredients: heavy cream, condensed
milk, and lime juice. But there's a magic and
alchemy that happens when the acid from the limes interacts with proteins
in the dairy products. It coagulates and tightens those proteins, and it causes it to turn into
this kind of puddingy texture. It just feels magical
and totally worth trying. So I've got some washed limes here, and we also need a zest of these. So I have a couple extra. We need a half a cup of lime juice. As I've mentioned in previous videos, lime juice is phytophotic,
I believe the term is. You, I'm sure will correct
me in the comments below if I use the wrong term. But I got phytophotodermatitis
from lime juice. Learned it the hard way. But that is a long version of saying, or complicated way of saying, that this will react
with UV light, the sun. So if you get lime juice on your hands and you go in the sun, it
will cause a chemical burn. And sometimes they call it margarita burn or bartender's burn because bartenders sometimes
muddle limes for their drinks and don't wash off all the
lime juice, and you get burns. Now, I learned this hard way -- My sons and I did. We were making limonade. We went to, we were
actually at Disneyland. And the next day, we had terrible burns and in the form of splashing
from squeezing lime. So be aware. All right, get back to juicing limes. So I have this wonderful citrus juicer. I found this set of thrift store. I think it's from the '50s
or '40s based on its look. It has some chipped enamel, but doesn't bother me
'cause look at that shine. Has a great handle. It's called the Juice-O-Matic. And you lift this up.... And that's where we'll place
our orange, lime, lemon. I've even used this
with small grapefruits. And you just crank it down. (machine creaking) Love it! Very effective juicer. So I will do this until I
have half a cup of lime juice. Oh, it smells so good. (machine creaking) (lime juice sploshing) Almost there. All right, that might be enough. Let's see. (lime juice sploshing) Indeed. Perfect. So to a large bowl, two
cups of heavy cream. Whoop, look at that, that's gorgeous. And two 14 ounce cans of condensed milk. Another can. Now that we have those, we're
gonna give this a quick mix. And already, this looks beautiful. It looks like ice cream base, which you can use condensed
milk for, by the way. Makes a beautiful ice cream base. So right now, it's beautiful. And I wanna see, I want
you to see the texture. Textures still very runny. Thick, but runny. See that? Just runs right off. Now, in goes the lime
juice, just dump it in. So we're gonna mix it for about a minute. And already, can you see that? Oh my gosh, it's so cool. Instantly, it gels into like a pudding. Isn't that cool? Look at that. I didn't even stir yet, but
see how it's doing that? Yes. So, instantly, it's creating
this kind of custard, like a pudding in texture. It's really quite magical. So you were supposed to store
this for about a minute. Oh, it's so cool. I love it. It's just magic. Magical, magical, magical. And when we scoop it, on our spatula, look the difference in texture. And then it leaves a nice
kind of puddle at the bottom. Beautiful. Love it. That's it. So now we're going to
assemble the ice box cake. You can use any kind of
shallow casserole dish or pan. But because I'm making
two different versions, I'm going to use two small pants. Base of the pan, we're adding our custard. Look how thick that is. Yo, it's like pudding. It's so awesome. So I'm gonna add a half cup to the bottom of each of these pans. Spread it on the bottom
just so we have a layer. I don't think I mentioned this, but the final result of this dessert is that the crackers, in
this case, or cookies, is going to absorb this custard and turn into a cakey-textured
dessert without me baking. Perfect for summertime,
perfect for a low lift dessert that you can bring to a potluck. Okay, so we've got it in an even layer, and we're going to just
line a layer of crackers. So this is gonna be my Ritz one. And we're gonna continue to do this until we run out of custard. And the final layer
will be custard on top. I'm going to break these so
they fit on the sides as well. There's the Ritz version. Now for the Ducales version. Oh, this is great. Cause we got these great big
sheets and they're square, ah. Yes, this is so satisfying. It's like tiling. You ever watch those tiling videos where they show professional
tilers, and you're like, "Oh, that's so." And then they wiggle the
tile into the mortar, and you're like, "Yes, wiggle
it," and get it like perfect. Uh-huh, I know I'm not the only one here. So, yes, you all know
what I'm talking about. Now, we're gonna make a
little, oh, it fits perfectly. I did not even measure. (breathes deeply) I'm so, so pleased. Oh, look at that. Perfectly tiled. I love how they're perforated so that I can fit them perfectly in there. Okay, we're gonna continue. Another layer of custard. Bloop. Bloop. You don't even have to measure the layers if you don't want to,
but I want to, so I am. Once we use up all of our custard, we will cover this and then
place it in the refrigerator, and refrigerate it at least
two hours, if not overnight. Overnight is even better because then the crackers
will have enough time to absorb the custard and be even cakier. So I will return, I'm gonna
let these rest overnight because I want an ice box cake, and we'll give these a taste. All right, my lovelies,
see you in a little bit. (upbeat music) Alrighty, my lovelies. It has been a full 24 hours
since I placed my ice box cakes into the refrigerator. And now, we're gonna slice
'em up and give them a taste. Now, one of these I've
marked with the letter D, so I know that's the Ducales,
and this one is the Ritz. So they look pretty much the same as they did when I placed
them into the refrigerator. Look at that. And for a little garnish and
for a little extra flavor, I'm gonna add some lime zest. Already washed my lime --
I've got a microplane here. And doing this upside-down I have learned is the best way to get the zest. You just want the green part. Oh, smells so good. That's gonna give us
some color and flavor. Oh my gosh, look how beautiful. Look at those little
flecks of green, so bright! Oh, it's so fragrant, so fragrant. Okay, so I'm gonna put
it over the entire cake, and then I'm also going to add
a little extra when I slice. See these little flecks? Look how cute. Nying.... Yes!! Okay, this one is the Ducales. Okay, great. So I'm gonna cut myself a slice. Oh, it feels just like a cake. It's solidified. Uh-huh, make sure we get all the way down. Oh, beautiful. Look. See that? You can see the layers of
crackers have softened up and it looks like cake, as
long as I don't drop it. Let me put it on the plate. Can you see that? Isn't that great? You can see the layers,
but it's all softened up. We'll do a corner slice here as well. Ooh, this one feels a little
bit firmer than the Ducales as I'm cutting it. Feel a little bit more resistance. Beautiful. This one too absorbed all of the custard and looks like cake. Isn't that amazing? Look at that. So cool. All right, now we're gonna do
a little side-by-side taste. And if you wanna add a little garnish, you can do a lime twist. Slice the lime into a
little disk like that, and then we're gonna cut a little radius. Slice into the radius like that, and then we can twist it. Just a little decoration like that. Cute, right? Alrighty, let's give our
ice box cakes a taste. Let's try the Colombian version first. Ooh, look at that, slices beautifully. So for the last layer of custard, I had a little bit more than a half a cup. And I think that's a great idea because then it gives
you a nice even layer so you can hide any
evidence of the crackers. And when you cut it, it looks like it's got a layer of frosting or something on top. Alighty, let's give this a taste. Here we go. Itadakimasu! Uh-huh. Really good. Hm, it finishes so creamy and rich. The texture is just
melt-in-your mouth soft. It's not quite like a cake. It is very moist, but it's certainly not
crunchy like a cracker at all. You definitely can taste
some of the buttery flavors from the crackers and the
salt in there as well. But the lime, in combination
with the milk, is so good. The combination of rich dairy flavors, buttery flavors with a
citrus works really well. Uh-huh, hm... And perfect balance of sweet and tartness. Okay, let's compare that with
the Ritz Cracker version. This one is firmer, harder to slice. And you can get a better
look of the layers there. Alrighty, let's try this one. Hm. So in the Ritz version, the layers are a little
bit more distinctive than the Ducales version. The Ritz Crackers have a
little bit more structure left to them, rather than kind
of just completely melting, which makes sense because
it was a sturdier cracker. I definitely taste the
buttery Ritz Cracker flavor, which makes this really different than the Carlota de
Limon recipe that I tried that uses the Maria Biscuits. That one was a little bit more like a kind of graham crackery crust. While this one, definitely
tastes kind of buttery. It's a little bit more
like a pie crust flavor, as opposed to a graham crust-flavored pie. You know what I mean? Although neither one of
these tastes like pie either, nor do they taste like cake. It's an interesting dessert of its own. The flavors are very
reminiscent of Key lime pie, but so much easier to make, in my opinion. No fiddling with a crust at all -- you just whip up your
custard in ten minutes. It really does just take
that little bit of time and layer everything up. You can be noodly like I
was to get it all perfect, but you can do it much, much faster. And then have a dessert in the
refrigerator in ten minutes and then break it out for
your party the next day. So easy. Uh-huh. I like the lime flavor. I feel like the lime zest
is really important here. It makes it really zingy and
bright and smells so lovely, and perfumed of lime flavor. It's lovely. And that's a little counterintuitive. You would think with all
that lime juice in there, it would be perfumed with lime. And my experience, the lime juice offers most
of the tang and sourness. But in terms of that really
lovely, limey, citrusy perfume, it's in the zest where you're
gonna get most of that. So there you have it. A super easy to put together dessert to bring to your next potluck that requires almost no effort at all. Tastes great, looks beautiful. And yes, Ritz Crackers
makes a delectable version of this recipe. Is one better than the other? I wouldn't say so. Let me try the, hm. So I would say the difference between the two versions
is mostly textural. The Ducales version made
with a Colombian crackers is a little bit more softer,
a little bit more custardy, and a little less salty than
the Ritz Cracker version. The Ritz Cracker version is
a little more dense, uh-huh, and just a tad saltier. But flavor profile, very, very similar with that
buttery, crackery flavor. Delicious. Either one is going to be a winner. Alrighty my lovelies,
thanks so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed that one. I hope you learned something. Please share this video with your friends. Follow me on social media. I love hearing from you. Like this video, subscribe
if you're not subbed already. And I shall see you in the next one. Toodaloo! Take care! Bye! (gentle music) I am so tempted to have this for lunch, but I know that I need
other kinds of sustenance.
