Hello again, everyone! I’ve been holding out on you over the past few weeks while I took a trip up to Oakland. I went up there to visit Andrew, the Nestle ice cream headquarters, and a visit to both Sonoma and Napa. It just so happened that two of my good friends from home were vacationing in Sonoma and I got to meet up with them!!

But now, for the recipe I’ve been waiting to share with you…Ina Garten’s Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake. Seriously, the best dessert I’ve made in a LONG time. You can’t go wrong with a Barefoot Contessa recipe, but this one tops the charts!! I have been dreaming about this cake ever since I made it! It’s the kind that you first have a piece (or two) with dinner, and then cut a sliver with breakfast the next morning to make sure that is was really that amazing, and then might as well have another little piece with lunch to remember how good it is, and then obviously after dinner it’s time for more dessert…I AM NOT KIDDING!

The cake is made up of layers of thin crispy cookies and rich, creamy, fluffy mocha. The combination of textures and flavors is unreal. My girlfriends and I LOVE this cake. And aside from the cookies, it’s a no bake cake! (You could even buy the cookies from the bakery or order them online like Ina from Tate’s Bake Shop.) I used a tub of  refrigerated cookie dough.

It looks pretty to garnish with a little chocolate on top:

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups cold heavy cream
• 12 ounces Italian mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, such as Pernigotti
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 (8-ounce) packages chocolate chip cookies, such as Tate’s Bake Shop
• Shaved semisweet chocolate, for garnish

Directions