An Ice box cheesecake is a cheesecake between two layers of cake. This particular one has devil's food cake used as the cake layers, and the middle is called a "Cream Cheese Bavarian."

This one I made as a special desert for my mate on Valentine's day. I did breakfast in bed and a nice dinner too, but those can be shared to another post.

A Bavarian is light, whipped custard like cream (Though doesn't necessarily share that much with actual custards.). A moose is in the catagory of a "Bavarian" though a bavarian will be stiffer because, while moose uses whipped cream to lighten something, a Bavarian uses that BUT it also employs some gelatin as well that will stiffen the mixture a bit.

Bavarians usually need to be chilled to set after making. This particular one involved no cooking beyond heating up water with one pack of gelatin in it to help the gelatin "Bloom" which requires heat to do so. This helps to activate the gelatin so it'll thicken later on when whipped into the cream cheese, sugar, and then has whipped cream folded into it.

I put one layer of the cake in the base of a springform pan. I then setteled in sliced strawberries around the edge of the pan, poured in the bavarian, put another layer of cake on top. I poured a Ganache (Chocolate that is melted with cream so it remains soft even at cold temperatures.) over the cake and let set in the fridge overnight.

For serving I sliced it and plated and I made powdered sugar "lines" (Creating a stencil) by cutting a small rectangle out of a piece of stiff paper and then sifting powdered sugar into the "Stencil" and removing it, taking away excess powdered sugar and leaving a small line across.

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Edit! Well, addition! Below is the updated entry and recipe for the Bavarian.

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Cream Cheese Bavarian - The Ice Box Cheesecake

This delicious desert isn’t to difficult to make but I wouldn’t recommend it to a first time cook either. You’ll want to have a stand mixer to make this recipe easier, though you could try it by hand. (When originally doing it I messed up my order and hand to hand whip my whip cream for the dish, which isn’t to bad.)

The desert is a layered desert, as seen in the picture. It’s composed of two layers of Devil’s Food cake (Though you can use your own favorite if you like.) The Cream Cheese Bavarian in the middle, and a chocolate ganache on top.

For the Devil’s Food Cake… get a box mix! No really, they can work nicely. BUT… I don’t follow the box directions fully. For a richer, moister, better cake from a box what I do is I generally increase the amount of egg by 50% (Usually just by one since most just call for 3 eggs.) And I substitute HALF of the water in the recipe with milk. (In this case, vanilla soy milk, though reduced or whole works great too.) It’ll give you a little richer, moister texture and flavor to the cake than just the cake alone. I’ll also tend to add a little extra cocoa powder to chocolate cakes, more vanilla extract to vanilla cakes, and match flavors up with the type of cake I am doing. It’s easy to turn yellow cake mixes into other flavors using extracts and substituting the water with different juices. Anyway though, onto the desert as a whole.

Bake up your cakes in 8” round pans. Trim the tops to make them flat. (I either eat the scraps or make chocolate “bread” pudding with them.)

You’ll need them done before you get started on the Bavarian as the Bavarian itself can set and won’t be pour able after a while of it being made. Line the base of a springform pan with a piece of parchment paper. (This will help make moving the Ice Box CheeseCake to another plate easier in the end.) Don’t use any spray or such, you won’t need it as there isn’t any baking involved. Place one of the trimmed cakes in the pan. If putting a fruit garnish around the edge (Like I did in the picture) place the fruit pieces now on the cake against the edges of the pan, letting the pan support them. Now, onto the Bavarian.

A Bavarian is something that generally contains three elements. A Custard sauce, Gelatin, and whipped cream. They take to many flavors well and are easy to add fruit purees to and the like. Many make use of cooking custard but here we’ll be doing one that gets much of the “Custard” portion using cream cheese as the base.

What you’ll need:

12 oz. Softened cream cheese
4 Oz sugar (About half a cup)
½ tbsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tbsp Lemon Juice.
(Optionally for a little extra flavor, add in half a teason of grated Lemon and Orange zest.)

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.25 oz of Gelatin (That is one gelatin packet from what you’d probably find at your local mega mart.)
2 oz (¼ cup) of COLD water.

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1 pt of Heavy Cream

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In Stand mixer with whip attachment, whip the Heavy Cream until it forms soft peaks. Gently transfer to another bowl and refrigerate until later. (Or Optionally, you can hand whip it later once the Cream cheese portion is mixed.) Wash bowl of mixer and switch to the paddle of your mixer.

Mix the cream cheese in the bowl on low speed to soften and break it up slightly. Add in the sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and any other flavorings you are going to use and blend until smooth. Periodically scrape down the bowl to make it nice and smooth.

Blend in the lemon juice.

Soften the gelatin in the two ounces of water. Then GENTLY heat the water until the gelatin is dissolved, shaking or stirring it every so often. (I used a metal 1 cup measure directly on the stove and put it on a low heat, only took a couple of minutes.)

Blend the warm gelatin into the cream cheese mixture. Scrape down the bowl to ensure it’s well incorporated.

IMMEDIATELY fold in the whipped cream after this. If you wait to long the gelatin in the cream cheese will set and you’ll have a chunky mess.


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Take your completed Bavarian and gently pour it into the springform pan with the cake. Let it flow but it’ll be thick enough you’ll probably need to help it out some. Leave room in the springform for the other cake piece to go on top. Gently place the other cake piece on top, pushing down gently to help it adhere. Top with melted ganach or cream cheese icing. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let chill overnight, or for at least eight hours.

Carefully open the springform pan ring and set aside. Use a long, thin spatula along with grasping the parchment to slide the cake from the pan to a serving place. Work the paper out slowly from beneath there. Slice and enjoy! I garnished with a little powdered sugar and strawberries!