Ree Drummond’s 5-Ingredient Peach Icebox Cake Is the Ultimate No-Bake Dessert

Looking for an easy, hot-summer-night dessert that keeps your oven turned off? It can’t get any simpler than The Pioneer Woman star Ree Drummond’s Brown Sugar Peach Icebox Cake.

It’s a fix-it and fridge-it sweet treat that cools a crowd off with plenty of smiles.

Drummond’s easy icebox cake features just five ingredients

In addition to “a pinch” of kosher salt and fresh basil for garnishing, the Food Network host’s simple cake recipe calls for a literal handful of items: frozen pound cake, canned sliced peaches, peach preserves, brown sugar, and heavy cream.

In her book The Pioneer Woman Cooks — Super Easy, Drummond writes the praises of the recipe’s convenience: “The headline is that it uses a frozen pound cake as its foundation — such a time-saver — and because of the whipped cream-fruity goodness, it’s hard to tell the cake wasn’t made from scratch.

“You can throw it together right before serving, or — if you have the time — you can pop it in the fridge and let it develop that wonderfully soft icebox cake vibe.”

Ree Drummond’s cake uses a clever dessert dish

Putting together this cake recipe couldn’t be easier; in fact, the cookbook author resourcefully uses the frozen pound cake’s pan as your dessert dish.

The pound cake is taken out of the pan and sliced into three “horizontal slices,” per the Food Network recipe. Meanwhile, the container is lined with plastic wrap so the wrap is hanging over the sides. Drummond designs it this way to ensure easy removal of the finished cake later on once it’s all done.

The peaches, preserves, salt, and half of the brown sugar are combined in a bowl, then put to the side. Then, in another bowl, Drummond says to mix the cream, rest of the brown sugar, and peach juice from the can in a bowl, whipping the mixture “until firm peaks form.”

Her trick to gorgeous cake layering

Now it’s time to layer: a slice of the pound cake is placed on the pan bottom, followed by a third of the whipped cream, and then the peach preserve mixture. Do that same layering process twice more, but be sure to reserve some of the peaches for serving.

Cover the icebox cake with the overhanging plastic wrap and refrigerate for about three to four hours.

Drummond’s Pioneer Woman website revealed that layering is all about portioning the ingredients in each layer, as noted for her strawberry icebox cake: “The best way to make layers even is to use the same amount of each ingredient in each layer. For this dessert, we used about 12 graham cracker squares, 1 1/2 cups cream, 1 1/2 cups berries, and 1/4 cup almonds for each layer. There should be a little extra of everything left over for garnishing or later snacking.”

Try the culinary personality’s easy cake and give your oven a break!