Coconut Chocolate Icebox Cake with Toasted Almonds from The Vintage Baker

Peeps, I won’t lie: I am on a bit of an icebox cake rager. And I don’t mean I’ve been partying a lot and stuffing my face with icebox cakes. I merely mean that I have been thinking about them a lot, making them a lot (click here to see me making my Neapolitan one on the Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family show) and – ahem – eating them a lot. As some of you may know, my first book is all about Icebox Cakes, so this icebox cakes thing I’ve got going on is hardly newsy.
And this particular chocolate icebox cake, inspired by my love for Almond Joy Bars, is from my second cookbook, The Vintage Baker, and is truly all that and then some. In truth, I included two icebox cakes in this book, as I am really not kidding about this thing I have for them.
Now this chocolate icebox cake is pretty special (and the above photo is by Alice Gao, FYI) and I am going to tell you why: not only is the combo of coconut and chocolate a fantastic one, to say the least, but the cream in this cake is actually made in part from real coconut milk – so the coconut flavor is legit. Moreover, it is super easy to throw together, calling for store-bought chocolate wafer cookies and this easy peasy coconut whipped cream described above. The toasted almonds add a lovely crunchy texture and they look pretty nice, too. Now on the off-chance you have not yet purchased The Vintage Baker (which can’t possibly be true, right? – joke . . . ), the recipe can be found here on Epicurious – see, even the heavy hitters love it.  And, might I just add, that this cake has Valentine’s Day written all over it?