Icebox cakes really are as easy as pie, like this chocolate-mint icebox cake.

Icebox cakes really are as easy as pie.

Also called refrigerator cakes, they require little or no baking and are easy to assemble.

Icebox cakes, according to www.foodtimeline.com, likely date to the early 1900s and became popular in the 1920s, thanks, in part, to Nabisco's Famous Chocolate Refrigerator Roll recipe.

Included on the label of Nabisco's Famous Chocolate Wafer cookies, the refrigerator roll was chocolate wafer cookies slathered with whipped cream, sandwiched together and covered with more whipped cream. It's chilled until the cookies become soft and you can easily slice it.

You can strategically place the cookies on their side or in different ways so when you slice the cake, it's a work of art.

Here are a few variations for the basic icebox cake recipe (see accompanying recipe) adapted from "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook" by the editors of America's Test Kitchen (America's Test Kitchen, Cookies and Cream, $34.95):

• Toasted almond: Replace half of the vanilla extract with Z\x teaspoon of almond extract. Crumble 3 to 4 chocolate wafer cookies and mix with 1 cup sliced toasted almonds. Sprinkle this mixture over the cake.

• For the whipped cream mixture, use 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and mix in 1 tablespoon instant espresso or instant coffee granules. Mix until the granules are completely dissolved before adding to the whipping cream and the sugar. If desired, dust the cake with sifted cocoa powder or decorate with chocolate shavings.

• Use ice cream for part of the whipped cream layers and freeze the cake.

• Use pound cake, angel food cake and soft-style lady fingers in place of the wafer cookies.