Lemon Icebox Cake (a la Trader Joe's)

Last weekend I was a cooking/baking machine. We had a really busy week which meant we ate out quite a bit and didn't have our usual sit down family meals. So in response, on Sunday I made breakfast (correction husband made breakfast), lunch, two nights worth of dinners and dessert for the next week.

Surprisingly it was all fairly simple, especially the dessert. I found this tasty lemon icebox cake recipe while browsing Dinner: A Love Story and made it in about 10 minutes. I did tweak it a little bit, but that only made it easier. How easy you may ask? Well easy enough for a 3 year old to help you make it. That's pretty easy right?

Check it out...

Lemon Icebox Cake

ingredients:
Trader Joe's lemon spread
Trader Joe's lemon cookies
whipped cream (see recipe at bottom)

get to work:
1. In an 8x8 pan spread just enough lemon spread to cover the bottom.

2. Next cover the pan with lemon cookies.

3. Spread a layer of lemon spread over the cookies and top with whipped cream.

4. Repeat until you have about 4 layers.

5. Cover and place in freezer for at least 2 hours. (This is best somewhere between 2 hrs - 2 days, the longer the cake is in the freezer the softer the cookies will become.)

 *I found this cake to be really sweet and lemony - as an alternative you might want to try the ginger version of TJ's cookies to change up the flavor a bit.

Homemade Whipped Cream

ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

1-2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

get to work:

1. In a large mixing bowl combine heavy cream, sugar and vanilla. (For best results, refrigerate bowl before adding ingredients.)

2. Using an electric mixer beat the ingredients on high for about 1-2 minutes or until the cream starts to show soft peaks. 

PS
You're welcome for the free advertising Trader Joe's, consider this my little "ode to TJ's."