Chilled pudding cake with kick of lime is just so good.

As I was resolutely surfing upon the internet’s tsunami of food videos, I came across a recipe for lime cracker icebox pie by Emmymade. (You can find her YouTube channel by going to youtube.com and typing Emmymade into the search box. She makes and eats weird stuff like foam from a tiny toy washing machine or a cranberry mayonnaise candle that really lights. The videos are perfect when you’re looking for a way to put off folding the laundry.)

The recipe — which includes limes, cream, condensed milk and Ritz crackers — caught my eye because it reminded me of mango float, the scrumptious Philippine dessert I made a few years ago with mangos, cream and Graham crackers. It’s also similar to a Mexican dessert called Carlota de Limon or Lime Maria, in which lime cream is layered with Maria cookies from Spain. The same principle is at work in all desserts: layering cream with a pre-baked element then refrigerating overnight so that everything blends together, resulting in a chilled pudding-cake.

Emmymade credits her lime-Ritz recipe to James Beard Award-winning cookbook author J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. The Ritz are a substitution for Ducales, a Colombian cracker used in the icebox pie made by Lopez-Alt’s wife Adriana’s aunt Gloria. Clear as mud? (If you’re curious, you can find Lopez-Alt’s Ritzy icebox pie recipe at food52.com.) However, when I went with my husband to the grocery store to buy crackers, he cast a hungry eye upon the Nilla Wafers.

“Those things are so dang good,” he said. “Why don’t you use those instead?”

So I did. The result was a sweet, rich and mildly tangy pudding cake with gentle notes of vanilla from the wafers. I used freshly squeezed lime juice but I see no reason why you couldn’t use lime juice from a bottle, if you don’t feel like juicing a bunch of limes. It’s true that bottled lime juice tends to be more sharply bitter than fresh limes, but there’s so much sugar in the condensed milk and vanilla wafers that it shouldn’t make much difference.

Get out a 2-quart or 1½-quart casserole dish or baking dish. I used my oval Corningware dish because it has a lid that’s useful during the chilling phase so the icebox cake doesn’t absorb any unpleasant refrigerator odors. (Some kind soul gave us the casserole dish for a wedding present. I can’t remember who and I probably didn’t write a thank-you note and now I deeply regret it. Wherever you are and whoever you are and even though it’s 28 years too late, thank you.)

Next, mix 2 cups of heavy cream with two 14-ounce cans of sweetened condensed milk and ¼ to 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger (or use fresh ginger for a touch of heat). Whisk everything together and set aside. Zest one lime, which should give you a generous tablespoon of zest along with some extra. Now juice those limes! Lopez-Alt’s recipe says it takes about eight limes to make 1/2 cup of juice, but I got 1/2 cup using three medium limes. I squeezed the heck out of them with my new favorite contraption, a bright yellow-and-green citrus squeezer that I bought at the grocery store along with my limes. It’s sturdy metal and works like a charm. (There’s something comfortingly cheerful about it. Those vivid colors give it a 1970s kitchen vibe. What happened to green and yellow appliances? That’s what I want to know.)

Now here’s the magical part. When the acid in the lime juice combines with the proteins in the cream and condensed milk, it transforms into a semi-thick pudding with the consistency of crème fraiche. The process is almost instantaneous and requires nothing more than a few energetic whisks. So add all your lime juice and zest to the cream, whisk for a minute, and behold the stunning transformation. When I got to this stage, I just wanted to sit down on the couch with a spoon and eat the whole bowl of sweet, fragrant lime pudding.

Spread a cup of pudding over the bottom of your casserole dish, then cover it with a layer of vanilla wafers, touching but not overlapping. Pour another cup of filling over the wafers, then place another layer of wafers atop the filling, followed by another cup of filling and another layer of wafers. Finish it off by spooning the remaining filling over the top. Put it in the fridge to chill for at least four hours or better yet, leave it in the fridge overnight so all those lovely wafers can soften right up.

I garnished it with the remaining lime zest and Nilla Wafer crumbs. My husband and daughter loved it because they both have a serious sweet tooth, but I found myself wanting more ginger or lime to counteract the sweetness, or even a layer of bitter chocolate ganache. I wondered how it would taste with spicy gingersnaps or dark chocolate Milano cookies. Maybe Aunt Gloria had the right idea to start with because savory crackers would have added a pleasant contrasting flavor. Nevertheless, it’s deliciously decadent, lush and citrusy with a tantalizing hint of summertime. I’ll never say no to that.

Limenilla Icebox Pie

2 cups heavy cream

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon lime zest, plus more for garnish

½ cup fresh lime juice from 6-8 limes

¼-½ teaspoon powdered ginger

One 11-ounce box vanilla wafers, plus crumbs for garnish

Whisk together cream and condensed milk. Stir in ginger. Zest one lime and then juice limes until you have ½ cup juice. Add juice and zest to cream and whisk for one minute or until mixture thickens. Spread 1 cup of filling into bottom of 2.5-quart casserole dish. Place wafers in a single layer over filling, then cover with another 1 cup of filling. Add another layer of wafers, another layer of filling, another layer of wafers and then top with remaining filling. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours or overnight. (Longer is better.) Garnish with extra lime zest and vanilla cookie crumbs. Spoon into dessert cups and enjoy.