With 15 minutes of prep and a short chill in the fridge, our no-bake eclair cake tastes just as great as the fancy French chocolate eclairs that are harder to make.
Where the classic French eclair is finicky and high-level, the eclair cake takes a much more simplistic approach, with all the same great flavors and one-third of the time. This cake uses graham-cracker cake layers to mimics the pate a choux from traditional eclairs, and replaces the pastry cream filling with instant vanilla pudding. It’s not a chocolate eclair—or even a cake, for that matter—without chocolate frosting on top, so we keep things easy and use a store-bought chocolate frosting (but feel free to make yours from scratch). Eclair cake is creamy and decadent with a luxuriously chocolatey bite, just like any good chocolate eclair should be.
Eclair Cake Ingredients
ingredients for Eclair Cake on the kitchen counter
Josh Rink for Taste of Home
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Whole milk: Rich and creamy whole milk hydrates the instant vanilla pudding mix, turning it into a luscious custard.
Instant pudding mix: We forgo the usual homemade pastry cream in favor of easy and just-as-yummy instant vanilla pudding. Make sure the packaged mixes say “instant” and not “cook and serve.”
Frozen whipped topping: Buy a frozen whipped topping (like Cool Whip) and thaw it before using in this eclair cake recipe.
Graham crackers: No need to make a tricky pate a choux here! Graham crackers act as the easy, bready base for our chocolate eclair cake.
Chocolate frosting: This eclair cake is finished with chocolate frosting. You can use homemade chocolate frosting, but feel free to keep this recipe easy by using the best store-bought chocolate frosting.Directions
Step 1: Prepare the pudding mixture
In a large bowl, whisk together milk and pudding mix
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In a large bowl, whisk together the whole milk and the instant vanilla pudding mix for two minutes.
Fold in cool whip until well-combined.
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Fold in the thawed frozen topping until everything is well-combined.
Editor’s Tip: Switch to a rubber spatula when folding in the frozen topping.
Step 2: Build the cake
Spread 1/2 of the pudding mixture evenly over grahams, repeat layers
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In a 13×9-inch baking dish, layer the graham crackers evenly over the bottom. Spread half of the pudding mixture evenly over graham crackers, then repeat the layers once more. Top the pudding mixture with the remaining graham crackers.
Step 3: Add the chocolate frosting
Spread chocolate frosting over top.
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Spread the chocolate frosting over the top of the graham crackers.
Editor’s Tip: Let the frosting come to room temperature so it’s easy to spread. Otherwise you’ll end up dragging and breaking the graham crackers.
Step 4: Chill and serve the eclair cake
Cover the pan tightly with storage wrap, and refrigerate the eclair cake for at least three hours. Once the cake is thoroughly chilled and set, cut the cake into squares and serve.
high angle shot of Chocolate Eclair Cake;
Josh Rink for Taste of Home
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Eclair Cake Variations
Use another instant pudding mix flavor: Leave the instant vanilla pudding on the shelf and pick something with a bolder flavor, like chocolate, lemon, pistachio or French vanilla.
Add fresh fruit: Fold fresh berries into the filling, or dot slices of banana on top of the graham crackers for a banana pudding flavor.
Change the frosting flavor: You can really use any flavor of frosting you’d like here. We used chocolate since it’s traditional on French eclairs, but feel free to try strawberry, lemon or vanilla frosting. You could also pour a decadent chocolate ganache
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