You're going to love this easy and creamy Carlota de Fresa recipe. This strawberry icebox cake involves no baking and only a handful of ingredients. A delicious and fruity Mexican dessert that's layered into perfection.

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A Carlota de Fresa trifle with a wooden fence and green branch in the background.

Table of Contents

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1 What is a Carlota?
2 Popular Mexican Desserts
3 How to make the cream sauce:
4 Are Maria cookies Mexican?
5 How to assemble this dessert
6 What does icebox cake mean?
7 How long does an icebox cake need to be refrigerated?
8 More Mexican Desserts
9 Carlota de Fresa

What is a Carlota?

A Carlota is a dessert layered with cookies and covered in a creamy sauce. It is placed in the refrigerator for several hours for the cookies to absorb the sauce. There is no baking required.

This is a classic Carlota de Limón with strawberries. Do you like strawberry lemonade? That’s kind of what Carlota de Fresa tastes like.

Think creamy strawberry lemonade with vanilla cookies… Yes please! An icebox cake dessert that’s so easy to make, you’ll love every bite.

Wash and slice the strawberries.
Set them aside until ready to assemble the dessert.

Carlota de Fresa is uses fresh strawberries like in Fresas con Crema or Raspados Mexicanos.

Look for strawberries that are red and without white spots or still green. Taste them for sweetness.

Popular Mexican Desserts

How to make the cream sauce:

An overhead collage image showing how to make the creamy sauce for the Mexican dessert.

To a blender, add evaporated milk.
Add sweetened condensed milk.
Add lime juice.

Some people do not like the lime flavor.

Swap out options (without lime juice):

Omit the lime juice. Dissolve strawberry gelatine in water and blend with the milks.
Or, omit the lime juice. Blend half the strawberries with the milks and mix with 2 cups whipped cream.

Two rows of galletas Maria outside of the package and one sleeve of the package.

Carlotas are desserts that always use Galletas Marias. They are a classic in Mexican food.

If you can’t find them, you can always buy Galletas Maria online.

Or, you can use vanilla wafers.

Are Maria cookies Mexican?

Maria Cookies (or Galletas Maria) are thin, round, and only mildly sweet. They are like vanilla wafers or graham crackers but without the cinnamon flavor. This cookie is favorite in Mexico.

How to assemble this dessert

A collage showing how to layer a strawberry trifle.

Add a layer of the cream sauce to the bottom of the plate so the cookies won’t move.
Add a layer of cookies.
Add a layer of strawberries.
Add another layer of the cream sauce. Repeat layering.

Continue layering in this pattern. Depending on the serving plate, you might not have as many layers to add.

There’s something about trifles that I love. You can use a trifle bowl online or a Pryex dish with a lid that works great if you’re taking this dessert to a potluck or picnic.

See this Strawberry Trifle recipe for another variation.

Sliced strawberries lined up against the glass of a trifle.

For a visual effect, you can add sliced strawberries on the side of the trifle.

Even if you’re not using a trifle, you can also add strawberries to the side of a glass plate to make it look pretty.

Be sure to save some strawberries for decorating the top of the icebox cake.

What does icebox cake mean?

An icebox cake is a dessert made of cream, wafers, fruit, and sometimes nuts, then set in the refrigerator. No baking is required.

A collage showing how to layer a Carlota de Fresa trifle.

Continue layering with the cream sauce, strawberries, and Galletas Marias.
Repeat until there you run out of ingredients, or there is no more room.
Place in the fridge for 24 hours.

For the trifle dish, 1 ½ sleeves of the Galletas Maria were used. They will soak up all the creamy lime sauce and taste amazing.

How long does an icebox cake need to be refrigerated?

It is best to chill overnight, or at least 6 hours. The cake can be stored in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.

A Carlota de Fresa trifle next to a spoon on a red checkered napkin.

More Mexican Desserts

Carlota de Fresa is a rich and creamy Mexican dessert. Light, fruity, and absolutely delicious. Add a few sliced strawberries on top for decoration. You will you beg for seconds.

Did you make this recipe? Please rate the recipe below!

Carlota de Fresa

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 15

Total Time: 1 15

Servings: people

Calories: 220kcal

Author: Maggie Unzueta

Ingredients

▢ 1 can evaporated milk
▢ 1 can sweetened condensed milk
▢ Juice of 10 key limes (or 5 regular limes)
▢ 2 16-ounce packages strawberries sliced
▢ 1 ½ to 2 sleeves Galletas Maria

Instructions

In a large blender, add the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and lime juice.
Blend until smooth.
Set aside until ready to use.
NOTE: If you are not going to use the cream sauce right away, store it in the fridge.
Slice strawberries.
Add a thin layer of cream sauce to a baking dish.
Add a layer of strawberries on top of the cream sauce.
Add a layer of Galletas Maria on top of the strawberries.
Repeat this pattern until there are no more ingredients.
Chill for 24 hours, or a minimum of 6 hours.
Serve and enjoy.

Video

Notes

Swap out options (without lime):

Dissolve strawberry gelatine in water and blend with the milk. Omit the lime juice.
OR, blend half of the strawberries with the milks and mix with 2 cups whipped cream. Omit the lime juice.

If you can’t find Galletas Marias, use vanilla wafers.

Nutrition

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Carlota de Fresa [VIDEO]