For His Master's Veneration: Lite Strawberry Ice Box Cake

We have done ice box cakes before and this is just another variation.

The first refrigerator to see widespread use was the General Electric "Monitor-Top" refrigerator introduced in 1927. With over a million units produced, they quickly searched for recipes that would use this marvelous appliance. The “Ice Box Cake” began appearing in newspapers across the country. Amazing simple, layers of cookies with either a whipped cream or a pudding. No baking required only the “Ice Box” overnight!

The cookies absorb moisture from the cream and develop a dense texture, The cream absorbs the taste from the cookies, this creates more than the sum of its parts. A cool kitchen is a happy byproduct when you are paying for air conditioning.

Ingredients:

1 lbs fresh strawberries

2 cups light whipping cream

8 oz. Low fat Mascarpone Cheese (room temperature)

1/3 cup white sugar + ½ cup for berries

12 tsp vanilla extract

1 12oz. Box vanilla waffers

Directions:

Wash and hull the berries (remove the green leaves & tiny stem) Use the end of your peeler for this.

Cut up the berries into about ½ inch pieces and place in a large bowl. Pour in ½ cup white sugar and stir this around with a wooden spoon. Cover with wrap and refrigerate over night.

Why “sugar” the berries? Science! The effect of osmosis. A high concentration on one side and a low on the other means water will move to the side of the higher concentration. There's much more sucrose on the outside of the strawberries, and the water (juice), moves out of the permeable membranes to even out the sugar solution.
If you let it sit, the concentration of sugar gets lower outside, the water will rush back into the strawberries, carrying some of those sugar molecules with it, and you'll have sweeter strawberries!

In a mixer, whisk the mascarpone cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Let this beat until creamy, then add the light whipping cream and turn this to high and allow the mixer to do the work. Occasionally scrape down the sides with a spatula. Whisk until soft peak forms.

Remove from mixer and gently fold in chopped strawberries by hand. All except a few to use as a garnish.

Arrange wafers in a single layer covering the bottom of the pan. Cover with a layer of the cream,. Keep repeating this until pan is full, spread any left over cream on top sprinkle with strawberries. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.