Carlota de Limón {Lime Icebox Cake}

A slice of lime icebox cake on a spatula

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Carlota de Limón {Lime Icebox Cake}

This Carlota de Limón comes together with just 4 ingredients and 10 minutes of prep time! It's light and refreshing, perfect for Cinco de Mayo, and tastes great all summer long or anytime throughout the year when you need something super easy.

Prep Time10

Chill Time5

Total Time5 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: carlota de limon, lime icebox cake, mexican lime icebox cake

Servings: servings

Ingredients

½ cup fresh lime juice (see note)
12 ounces evaporated milk
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
12 ounces Mexican Maria cookies (see note)

Instructions

Add the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk (make sure to get all of it out of the can), and lime juice to a blender. Blend together for a minute until well-combined and a pudding-like consistency is reached.
In an 8x8x2-inch square baking dish**, add a layer of the cream mixture just so it coats the bottom. Then arrange a single layer of Marias cookies on top, breaking up some cookies to fill in any gaps.
Add about ⅓-½ cup of the cream mixture to the top of the cookie layer; spread it evenly and smooth using a spatula. Then top it with a layer of cookies.
Continue layering until there are no more ingredients left, ending with a smooth layer of the creamy lime mixture on top. (You should end up with 3 or 4 layers of cookies.) Give the dish a gentle tap on the counter to help remove any air bubbles and make sure the cream mixture surrounds all the cookies.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 5 hours (or overnight) until firm and set.
Optional topping: Beat together 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream, 2 tbsp powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and ¼ tsp cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag with a star tip. Pipe over the top of the cake. Garnish with cookie crumbs, lime zest, and twisted lime slices.
Slice and serve!

Video

Notes

*Fresh lime juice is an absolute must here. No pre-bottled stuff! I can usually get ½ cup juice from 5 large limes.

**This dessert can be made in a 2 quart dish, square dish, pie plate, or springform pan. You can even do it in a larger dish with fewer layers, but I really prefer the height that a square dish provides.

Marias cookies are thin crisp biscuit cookies and are made by many different brands. If you can't find them at your local grocery store, they're available online. Alternatively, you can use another digestive cookie, graham crackers, or even Nilla wafers, although not authentic.

Nutrition