No-Bake Chocolate Strawberry "Tiramisu"

July is the hottest time of year in my part of the east coast of Canada, so when my Business Ladies Who Lunch were due to come, I wanted to make something that didn't involve turning on the oven. I made this no-bake cake years ago and it was very well received, so "why not?" I said to myself.

Start by cutting up some lovely local strawberries, adding a bit of sugar and then mashing them up into smaller chunks. Then whip up some cream and fold the two together (I sieved off the juice to make strawberry ice cream). I lined a loaf pan with plastic wrap, then using chocolate wafers, I spooned on some cream and stacked the wafers side by side in rows until the pan was full. Then I covered the top with more cream, wrapped it up and left it to chill overnight.

Of course, once again I forgot to take a picture when I turned the cake out onto the plate, but oh well, it wouldn't have been very pretty anyway. I should have put some cream on the bottom of the loaf pan so it would be covered when I turned it out onto a serving platter — my bad — but although it wasn't as pretty as it could have been, it was just as tasty. It has a lovely texture like tiramisu or trifle. One of my ladies thought she couldn't finish an entire row of the cake, but she shonuff did!

You can make this using whipped topping, but I'd rather eat the saturated fat that's in whipping cream than the chemicals in whipped topping, so I say go for it and enjoy. It's not an every day treat, after all, it's for my Ladies Who Lunch. You should technically get 8 servings, but we are ladies who lunch with gusto, so this served 4 of us.

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No-Bake Chocolate Strawberry "Tiramisu"

1 pint             strawberries, cored and chopped
1/4 cup          granulated sugar
1 cup             cream whipped until stiff peaks form
1 box             chocolate wafers

Combine the strawberries and sugar; mash and let sit for a few minutes before using a sieve to remove most of the juices.

Fold the whipped cream and strawberries together until well blended.

Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving about 4 inches hanging off each end of the pan).

Scoop some of the cream mixture into the bottom of the pan and spread evenly. Taking one of the chocolate wafers, use a scoop of the cream to top the wafer and place it, cream-side-out, against the edge of the pan. Continue in this manner, stacking the cookies against each other until rows are formed and the pan is full (you should get 4 rows).

Fold the plastic wrap over and place the pan in the fridge overnight to soften into a cake).

Before serving, fold back the plastic wrap and turn out onto a serving platter. Remove the plastic wrap and serve.