Last week I obtained a new cookbook for my collection. B. Dylan Hollis’s cookbook features recipes from every decade between 1900 and 1980. If you haven’t heard of Dylan, he became TikTok-famous in 2020 when he started making recipes from the antique cookbooks in his collection. When I heard he was coming out with a cookbook that featured many of the recipes he made online, I knew I had to order it.

Now that it arrived, I was able to dive in head-first and make something yummy from the days of yore. After flipping through the numerous pages, I stumbled upon a “low-bake” recipe. (Low bake is a term I use to describe ice-box desserts that have a baked crust, such as a chocolate cream pie or these peanut butter bars I made many moons ago.)

One of the reasons for choosing a low-bake recipe is it’s the middle of summer. And in case you’ve been living under a rock or just not in the United States, this year our summer has been brutal. So, I didn’t want to add any extra heat to the house by having the oven on for any longer than was really necessary. Lucky for me, the Robert Redford Cake only required the crust to bake for 15 minutes. Plus, the enticing three-layer masterpiece practically begged me to try it. It had been a very long time since I had an icebox cake.

In the book, Dylan calls it the Robert Redford Cake and it comes from the chapter that features recipes from the 1970s. Apparently the cake is named after Redford because its as tasty as he is sexy. This cake can also be found in other cookbooks as “Better Than Sex Cake.” Was it up to such high expectations?

Making the Cake

The RRC begins with a crust made of crushed pecans, sugar, melted butter, and flour. That is combined into a sand-like texture and pressed into the cake. It’s then baked for 15 minutes. I will admit, I overbaked mine a tad since I didn’t think it was baked well after the initial 15 minutes. That proved to make the crust difficult to break apart while eating the completed cake. But more on that later.

Once the crust was cooled I began working on the first of the three layers.

The first layer was a whipped cream and cream cheese layer. I allowed that to chill for a little while before continuing since it’s summer and the mixture was a little “soupy.” The second layer was extremely simple. You combine a box of vanilla pudding mix with a box of chocolate pudding mix and only mix two cups of milk. Typically you need four cups for this amount of pudding mix. Cutting the milk volume in half leaves you with a hefty more dense pudding that doesn’t seep into the cream cheese layer as much. It also provides a sturdy foundation for the final layer.

One thing to keep in mind: this recipe calls for instant pudding. So you have to work quickly to spread the pudding on top of the cream cheese layer. This stuff soft sets in about five minutes! While it’s still workable, it’s just more a nuisance than it needs to be.

Now it was time to create the final layer, which was also quite simple. Sweetened whipped cream. Using my stand mixer, this layer was ready in no time. Once that whipped cream was spread across the pudding layers, I allowed the cake to sit in the fridge for a little over an hour before slicing into it. This was not written in the recipe, but it was just something I thought would be best. This way the pudding and the cream cheese layers had a chance to harden a bit. I also assumed this would aid in cutting into the cake.

Tasting the Cake

After about an hour, I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to try the cake! So I did. As alluded to above, the crust was difficult to cut through. And getting that first piece out of the pan was….not very elegant. But I tried it and I was blown away. I loved how these simple layers came together to make a rich cake.

In fact, it was so good that I immediately ate a second piece. I’m only slightly ashamed to admit it. And since I’m being honest, I think I ended up eating most of the 9 x 13 pan over the next couple of nights. By night number 3, the crust was starting to get soggy and the layers were losing their height and started blending together. But it was still yummy!

The Verdict

Would I make this cake again? Absolutely! Its a great summer time dessert that comes together in less than a half hour.

Was the cake as sexy as Robert Redford? Maybe. I wasn’t alive when he was in his prime.

Was the cake better than sex? I’ll let you be the judge.