This easy eclair cake is a simple no bake dessert that's always a crowd pleaser. Use store bought or homemade chocolate frosting.
I have been going through my Recipe Box trying to pull out all my easy summer desserts. It's summer in Texas, so it is too hot to be cooking anything! I know I have to crank up the oven at times for dinner, but for dessert no way!!!! It just ain't happening.
I have a pretty good assortment of fast and easy no bake desserts perfect for the hot weather.
Most of them are really quick and simple to prepare, so you can whip them up in a jiffy. One of our favorite favorite desserts is Chocolate Eclair Cake.
This recipe is perfect for children who are just starting to learn to cook, because there is no baking involved or any use of kitchen tools. Plus no hot oven. Just a bowl, whisk and spatula. My daughter loves to help make this cake. Well since the kids have been asking me for days to make this lets get started.
Pour the dry pudding mix into a medium size bowl and measure out 3 Cups of milk. Pour into the bowl and whisk the pudding until blended and begins to thicken. If you don't have a whisk a spoon works just as good. add the thawed cool whip and gently fold into the pudding mixture.
Arrange a single layer of graham cracker squares in the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan. Evenly spread half of the pudding mixture over the crackers. Top with another layer of graham crackers then the remaining pudding mixture. Top with a final layer of graham crackers.
OK it's time for the chocolate frosting. I put my chocolate frosting in the microwave for just a bit on defrost!! don't choose cook or you will have a clumpy mess. Microwave it for about 20 -30 seconds just until you get it nice, smooth and pourable.
This is Mackenzie's favorite part. Pour the frosting over the whole cake and spread it all around up to the edges of the pan. OK now for the BAD NEWS!!!!! sorry but you gotta do this part chill the cake for at least 6 hours or overnight before serving. The longer the better this will insure that the crackers soften up and be just like a eclair. You can do it, I have faith in you.
Doesn't this look delicious? OK if its been enough time go whack you off a piece of that cake don't forget the milk!!!
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48 comments:
OMG I MUST MAKE THIS ONE - Drew will have a blast- too bad ya have to wait 12 hours.....I am sure its worth it xo
Amy you wont be disappointed. We made this last Friday and by Saturday it was almost gone only two slices left that i gave to a friend. Drew will love it.
Tina, this is a great one. You posted this on the old couponchix site years ago and I've been making it ever since. :)
Love this recipe & nice to see it online. My mom has made this for years...its always a favorite at picnics or family reunions. I like to eat mine frozen or partially thawed.
I used to make this years ago, but had forgotten about it until I saw your recipe. Made it tonight (actually last night) to go with my shredded beef tacos. It was so good! My oldest son made me promise I will give him the recipe when he is grown and moves out...he is 6. :)
This is a great recipe!
Sometimes I change this up a bit and use chocolate graham crackers and instead of the chocolate frosting on top I place fresh berriers right before serving. Awesome either way!!!
Hey! I made this over the weekend and it turned out GREAT! I think I would almost prefer to eat it while it still has the crunch of graham crackers, but it still tastes great after sitting overnight. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
I actually prefer it both ways crunchy and soft. I guess we all have to wait if we want the true eclair' taste and consistency. This is one of my favorite summer desserts.
I made this cake for my Dad's birthday...it was an instant hit! I wish I had known about the ready made icing trick...I made a chocolate sauce for the top. Tonight I am making your version!!!
Some people make a homemade ganache for this cake. I think the frosting is so great for a quick fix. This is such a wonderful summer cake.
Tina...a friend recently shared this recipe with me after she found it on your blog. I've already made it twice and it was a big hit on both occasions. I always make copies of the recipe to pass out as I know they're going to ask and they haven't disappointed me yet. LOL This is a wonderful recipe for the summer as it's light and cool and not having to turn on the oven is another plus. It's so easy to put together and no one can believe the chocolate topping is a frosting. I've signed up for your newsletter; so keep the recipes coming.
I have been making this dessert for several years now and it never dissapoints. This is one recipe that all of my friends and family says is their number one favorite. They think I spend a lot of time making it but it's so simple. BTW, I stumbled on your website while looking for a hummingbird cake recipe. Love ALL of the recipes you've listed. Keep 'em coming!
Can I plz ask if it makes a diff what kind of milk? We have 2%, but would certainly get whole if recommended. Thx much!
@Stitchin Sweet Sue, It doesn't make a difference if you use 2% or whole milk. I always just use what I have on hand.
Wow, this sounds awesome! My wedding anniversary is coming up soon and my husband will flip for this. I'm thinking a layer of banana slices under the second layer of graham crackers would be the perfect touch, too.
Tina, this is an awesome cake, I have been making it for a couple of years and my family loves it. The only thing different I do is I add 1/4 cup of creamy peanut butter gives it the yummy taste of Reese peanut butter cup.....
Sounds Delish....but with the New Year and trying to lose weight I wonder how you cud lighten this up????
You could use sugar free putting, fat free milk and light or fat free cool whip. Not sure what you could do about the graham crackers and the frosting part though. It would at least lighten it up a bit.
Tina and Shari. As a diabetic who has always loved this recipe, I had to lighten it up. Yes, Tina, I used SF pudding, Lite whipped topping and skim milk. I got the reduced fat graham crackers (the best you can do to make graham crackers any lighter). The only problem is, you have to use plain vanilla, not french vanilla, since it doesn't come in sugar free. But, all in all, not a bad substitute for the real thing
I've been making this recipe for 40+ years. the icing was different then and when the tubs of ready made came out it was great... I also make this sugar free, one of the store brands (WM)does come in sf french vanilla, and I also use the sf cool whip.I use two 8oz tubs we like it piled high :-) one of the quickest desserts to make. I almost always have the ingriedients on hand
Tjis is also great with cherry pie filling as a topping.
Love this recipe. We all love it and it's soooooo easy to make. Thanks.
There are so many variations that can be made with this recipe. I use 1-vanilla and 1-cheesecake. Next time I may try strawberries instead of the chocolate. My FAVORITE recipe! Thank you for sharing.
Gloria S.
Have made this for years and my son asks for it for his birthday cake every year and now that he is grown his girlfriend is required to do it now!! He also gets it when he comes to see me. It is assumed that I will make it!! I make the icing from scratch and it is wonderful!! Will have to try using can icing and see. Have also seen a variation of using chocolate grahams and adding peanut butter to the pudding. Have not tried that yet but I plan to.
Walmart now sells suger free
frosting in the tubs. It's very good.
So now this recipe can be completely revamped sugar free. And its delicious too. Thanks fir the awesome recipe.
Another one Ive been making for years is layer club crackers in a 13x 9 pan add butterscotch pudding and cool whip. Repeat the layers til the pan is full. The salty and sweet are good together. This one only has to sit an hour before cutting *:*
Mewsicma, Wm does carry sf french vanilla, storebrand. And they also carry sugar free canned frosting and cake mixes, beside the regular mixes. They are quite good. Good luck!
Jacki W.
I am 76 years old.As a child my Mom made these in individual stacks and iced them all around. We thought she made up the recipe and we did not have a "fancy" name for it, just graham cracker desserts, Used home made pudding and icing then
Hi, I'd love to make this but here in Australia we don't have cool whip. What can I substitute? As some of you have made it for decades there must have been an alternative.
Thanks very much, Helen
Helen J,
Do you have Dream Whip? It comes in a box with several packets usually in the baking isle. All you do is add vanilla and water to make dream whip. This is very similar and hard to find out here.
I forgot to put the top layer of graham crackers on :(
Hope it turns out okay
I have made this recipe many many times and sometimes I add with each layer a layer of bananas, any fruit works pretty good too. Love this, so does my family.
My Mom made this cake, but she sliced bananas for one of the layers, yummy. I like it the next day when the crackers are soft and delicate. Helene
I don't have graham crackers but I do have graham cracker crumbs in a box...how can I use them instead?
Graham cracker crumbs will not work in this recipe. It needs to be graham crackers.
I make this very often using different flavors of pudding and I also do not use cool whip in mine. This dessert is amazing! I use butterscotch pudding often and use vanilla icing on that. I also make a strawberry puree to go on top sometimes when I use strawberry pudding to make this. Try any variations with this and you will certainly find that it is wonderful anyway you make it.
To the person who asked about using graham cracker crumbs, they will not work at all since the graham cracker is what holds this dessert all together really.
Anyone have any idea on the UK alternatives for the ingredients please?
That Eclair cake looks yummy!
What are graham crackers... I,ve heard of them before in recipes but I don't think we have them in the u.k .. Do you know an equivalent I could use? Thanks xxx
Could some other cookie be used instead of the graham crackers?
Can I use whipped cream in a can? And what about a substitute for Graham crackers. Don't have them here in N Z or Australia
My husbands Birthday is coming up on the 2nd of August and one of his favorites are the Boston Cream Pies, Or Chocolate Eclairs. I saw this recipe on Mommy's Kitchen and was so happy that I found your Easy No Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake.I will be making it for the FIRST time for my husbands Birthday. Hope it turns out to be a big hit!:)
Does anyone have any idea if instead of refrigerating this, I might be able to make ahead and freeze? We are going on a camping trip, I'd love to attempt freezing it (and keeping it frozen) until we reach our destination, thrn unthawing it once we're settled. Any ideas ot recommendations?
Hello I made this recipe for a Church cook out and i was only able to get myself one piece of it but man oh man it was delicious and a man caught me in the kitchen and told me he didn't know who made the certain cake out on the table but it was good and then he said too good that he had three pieces of it and i said what are you talking about the one that was sitting on the counter and he said oh yeah that's the one! I just laughed and said where i found it and told him i guess i will make again next time we have the food after church!! It's defe a keeper!
I have been making this for years also. I use one box of french vanilla and one box of pistachio pudding.
can anyone say the replacement for graham crackles ?
I make this cake but instead of frosting, I use whipped cream to frost. After reading about microwaving the chocolate frosting I might just have to try that. Also have used vanilla wafers in place of the graham crackers. Freeze it and folks will go crazy!
Hi to those in the UK any type of cookie like vanilla wafers I think would work. For the topping I used whipped topping(dream whip) and little bit of pureed fruit. Lot less calories than frosting.
You make my heart sing as this looks Delicious. What a great summer dessert.
Thank You
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