Icebox Cake

So this is something I have wanted to try for a while, and kept putting off. I'm glad I made it, it was the most positively reviewed thing I have done yet. The great thing about it is that it is really easy to make and low stress and you can do so many changes to the recipe, but still come out with something delicious. The original recipe called for strawberries, but you could probably do this with any fruit, within reason.

Once everything congeals, it tastes amazing and moist, and it can last in the fridge for over two days (I've heard reports they last up to 5 days) without going bad as long as you keep it cold and don't leave it out for too long.

Edit: Made another one with bananas and it came out pretty nice. Added the photo.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds fresh strawberries, washed
• 3 + 1/4 cups whipping cream, divided
• 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon rosewater (optional) 
• 4 sleeves (about 19 ounces, or 24 to 28 whole crackers) graham crackers
• 2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

Directions

1. Take out a few of the best-looking strawberries and set them aside for the garnish. Hull the remainder of the strawberries and slice each berry into thin slices.
2. With a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, whip 3 cups of cream until it just holds stiff peaks. A really good tip for whipping cream is to put the bowl (typically metal), the cream, and the mixers into the freezer for 20-30min to get them nice and cold before you start whipping. 
3. Add the confectioners sugar, vanilla, and rosewater (if using) and whip to combine.
4. Spread a thin layer of whipped cream on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan. 
5. Lay down six graham crackers. Cover the top of the graham crackers with more whipped cream, and then a single layer of strawberries. 
6. Repeat three times, until you have four layers of graham crackers. 
7. Spread the last of the whipped cream over the top and add a few more strawberries.
8. To make the ganache, heat the cream until bubbles form around the edges, then pour the chocolate into the pan to melt.
9. Let it stand for a minute, then whisk until the mixture is thick and glossy. Drizzle this over the layered dessert with a spoon.
10. Refrigerate for at least four hours,  until the crackers have softened completely, or over night for best results. 

Thoughts: 
Overall everything came out great. I tried adding a little color with some graham cracker crumbs, but I don't think they were really necessary. Maybe to improve the aesthetics, the top layer of whip cream could be applied with a bag with a hole in it to make everything look fancier.

For Next Time:

• The recipe calls for 2 lbs of strawberries, but I used only about 1.5 lbs, and my strawberries were densely layered. I think to save time on hulling and slicing, far fewer berries could be used next time.
• I want to try this with bananas instead of strawberries and see how that turns out. Maybe a mix of both?
• Potentially any and all fruits could be used in any combination, as long as the fruit mass is essentially the same, consider adding blueberries to the mix.
• I've heard good things about Nilla wafers instead of graham crackers, and those could be interesting to try.
• The ganache originally called to sit for a few minutes before mixing. For me, this lead to the whole thing cooling down too much and not spreading smoothly and coming out in big clumps, which looked ugly. - Update: Put chocolate into the pan to melt, as opposed to the cream onto the chocolate in a bowl.