Strawberry Icebox Cake with Black Pepper

Ingredients:

• 1 cup strawberry jam, divided
• 220g cream cheese, divided
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream, divided
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 13 graham crackers
• 2.5 tsp coarsely ground black pepper, divided
• Special equipment: stand mixer, bread pan

Preparation:

1. Line a 20x10x7 cm loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving enough overhang on all sides to completely cover the top of the cake. Measure out 2/3 cup strawberry jam. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes, stopping as needed to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sour cream and lemon zest and beat until smooth, about 30 more seconds. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. Replace the spatula with a whisk and beat 0.5 cups of heavy cream with powdered sugar until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and transfer to a zip-lock bag.
4. Line the bottom of the prepared loaf pan with a layer of graham crackers. Snip off a corner of the frosting bag, pipe about 1/4 to 1/2 cup frosting onto the crackers, and smooth it out with a spoon or spatula (you can add frosting by eye, but keep in mind that you should have six layers of frosting). Top with about 80 grams of jam (again, you can eyeball it), sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, and add another layer of frosting.
5. Continue layering—graham crackers, whipped cream, jam, pepper, frosting, graham crackers—until you have 4 graham cracker layers (see Notes). Cover the cake with the overhanging plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
6. When ready to serve, beat the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the remaining 1/3 cup of strawberry preserves and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until stiff peaks form.
7. Unwrap the cake and invert it onto a serving platter. Remove the plastic wrap and top the cake with strawberry whipped cream. Slice and serve immediately.
   
   Note
   
   The most important thing is to always place the crackers between the layers of cream, but not next to the jam. The fat in the cream prevents the crackers from getting soggy.