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posted by Christy Denneyon Jun 11, 2023477 comments »
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Eclair Cake is all of the great flavors of an éclair in cake form. This easy recipe has a cream puff crust, vanilla cream cheese layer, whipped cream, and a chocolate ganache. Unlike some recipes that use a box of graham crackers, this delicious eclair cake is made with a real eclair crust. This is hands down my husband’s favorite dessert.
CHOCOLATE ECLAIR CAKE
Thismeasly corner piece was all that was left after us, our friends, and the missionaries (who made a surprise stop) devoured it.
This was a Father’s Day request from my husband John who loves eclairs. My sister-in-law Kristy made this for us when she came out to visit and we quickly fell in love with it.
It is very light which makes it easy to eat a TON of it! You can make it simple with Cool Whip (whipped topping) and Hershey’s syrup (it’s still great this way) or go the extra step and make homemade whipped cream and homemade chocolate sauce to make it unbelievable! This hot fudge sauce is great too on it.
There are two versions of this. A lot of people make a no-bake eclair cake with layers of graham crackers, whipped cream, and chocolate pudding. This is the grown up version of that.
This is one of our favorite desserts and we make it for special occasions, birthdays,…a family reunion. It tastes like a classic eclair.
INGREDIENTS
- Vanilla instant pudding – Instant pudding mix is used here for our pastry cream. You can use French vanilla pudding as an option.
- Choux pastry (pâte à choux) – which includes flour, unsalted butter, water, and eggs.
- Cream cheese
- Milk
- Whipped cream – made with heavy cream and powdered sugar
The butter, water, flour mixture will be thick. Add one egg at a time, whisk after each egg to combine well.
You’ll get an arm workout here. Once you’ve incorporated all of the eggs it will be the texture of cake batter. There’s not sugar here. This is a classic eclair crust.
paux de choux or eclair crust.
Spread it across the bottom and up the sides of the baking dish, using your fingers is the easiest way. Once it cooks it will look like this.
Don’t worry if there are bubbles. It’s all part of what an éclair crust looks like.
If you love eclairs, this is the perfect dessert for you!
HOW TO MAKE ECLAIR CAKE
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9″X13″ glass baking pan.
- For the Eclair Crust: In a small saucepan, melt butter in water over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. Mixture will be very wet. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won’t be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease. No big deal but I like the crust to go up the sides a bit.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown (Mine only took 25 minutes.) You may want to check it occasionally-you don’t want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don’t touch or push bubbles down).
- For the Filling: Whip cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. In separate mixing bowl make vanilla pudding by beating the pudding mix and the milk for 3 minutes with an electric mixer and put in the fridge until set. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly mix pudding and cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in refrigerator. When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in, spreading to cover bottom crust. Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it. Chill until ready to serve. Serve with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. *If you want to make this even better use homemade whipped cream.
OTHER EASY DESSERT RECIPES:
- Eggnog Eclair Cake
- Chunky Monkey Eclair Cake No-Bake Dessert
- Banana Split Icebox Cake
- Scotcheroos
- Magnolia Bakery’s Banana Pudding
- Lunch Lady Brownies
- Monster Cookies
- No-Bake Cookies
- Carmelitas
- Banana Split Dessert
Eclair Cake
4.53 from 86 votes
This Eclair Cake is all of the great flavors of an éclair in cake form. This Eclair Cake has a cream puff crust, vanilla cream cheese layer, whipped cream, and a chocolate drizzle.
PrintPinRate
Prep Time: 20 minutes mins
Cook Time: 25 minutes mins
Total Time: 45 minutes mins
Servings: 12 servings
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
Filling:
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1 (5.1 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding
- 3 cups whole milk
Topping:
- 1 (8 oz) container cool whip or one batch homemade whipped cream, (just enough for a thin layer. I don't use the whole container)
- chocolate syrup or homemade chocolate sauce, (see notes)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9"X13" glass baking pan.
For the Eclair Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. Mixture will be very wet. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won't be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease. No big deal but I like the crust to go up the sides a bit.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown (Mine only took 25 minutes.) You may want to check it occasionally-you don't want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don't touch or push bubbles down).
For the Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate mixing bowl make vanilla pudding by beating the pudding mix and the milk for 3 minutes with an electric mixer and put in the fridge until set. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly mix pudding and cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge. When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in, spreading to cover bottom crust. Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it. Serve with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. *If you want to make this even better use homemade whipped cream.
Notes
Make homemade whipped cream and homemade chocolate sauce(or this hot fudge sauce) to make this out of this world!
Source: Debbie Mortensen
Cuisine: American
Course: Dessert
Author: Christy Denney
All Desserts All Recipes Cakes Chocolate Desserts Potluck Favorites Tried and True Recipes
published on Jun 11, 2023
477 comments Leave a comment »
100 of my favorite recipes! This is the family-friendly cookbook for anyone looking to plan quick-and-easy meals and wants a way to bring people together, feasting on food which can only be described as scrumptious.
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477 comments on “Eclair Cake”
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Bea — Reply
I love the Eclair Cake or pie as I call it. If you want the crust to come up the sides use parchment paper. It works beautifully & the crust comes out much better! Thanks
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Christy Denney — Reply
Thank you!!
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Minnie — Reply
Has anyone tried non-dairy milk in the pudding mix? Just curious if it would make a difference. We are a non-dairy family but this recipe sounds fantastic.
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Anna — Reply
I tried almond milk, it will not thicken. It needs to be dairy milk for packaged pudding I believe. Maybe you can find a non dairy recipe for vanilla pudding.
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Tommie — Reply
Could I use puff pasty sheets as a substitute? Thank you
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Christy Denney — Reply
I haven’t tried it with those?
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Di — Reply
Made today 29/05/23 it was absolutely delicious. The recipe was very easy to follow. Will definitely make again
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Christy Denney — Reply
Thank you!
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Kylie — Reply
I am a baking fiend and follow directions as precise as they come, yet for some reason my crust did not come out like that whatsoever. It was was too thick once baked and I had to trash it.
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Christy Denney — Reply
Sorry I’m not sure what happened. I just made this yesterday. Did you press it up the sides?
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Anna — Reply
I have made this recipe several times and it always comes out great. It puffs up a lot but then settles way down. I mix in (with mixer) the flour and eggs immediately after taking the butter water off the heat – I think I saw that in one of the OPs comments.
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Kittie — Reply
I’m not sure what went wrong. It tasted great but the
Pudding center melted away! I used the 5.1 pudding, 3 c milk and let it set then added cream cheese. Any thoughts??!-
Christy Denney — Reply
Was your crust hot? That’s weird
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Kristi — Reply
Does anyone know if you can make this recipe in individual muffin cups?
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Christy Denney — Reply
You can!
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Jill theiler — Reply
When the crust comes out I put chocolate chips on it. Once melted I spread it into s thin layer. Then add the filling. Also, top with chic. Chips.
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Christy Denney — Reply
Sounds delicious!
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Diane Szlucha — Reply
Deeee- licious!!! Made 4 batches for 60 portions and serve with our lodge’s St Patrick’s Day with choc.sauce and optional creme de menthe. A really big hit and requests for the recipe! We will make this again and advertise the dessert !!!!
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Christy Denney — Reply
Thank you!
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Tammy Hitts — Reply
I pipe on hot fudge that is at room temp, we like this much better and it does not separate into the whipped topping on day 2. Excellent dessert.
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Dave — Reply
I’ve made this for years. I would make it for potlucks, and it would be the first dessert gone. To make it go further and make it easier to serve (longer prep time) I press the dough in cupcake pans and make individual servings. I’ve made different versions of this over the years as well: Lime on D’ Coconut (coconut pudding and lime syrup), Black Forest (chocolate pudding and cherry pie filling), Orange Cream (vanilla pudding and orange syrup). The most popular, by far is orange cream. I have also used Krispy Kreme doughnuts in place of the crust when I’m in a rush.
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Christy Denney — Reply
Wow sounds decadent!
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Barb — Reply
Made this before work this morning, the crusty just finished! Will assemble at lunch, and allow to cool until dinner! Thank you, my husband is going to be so happy!
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Christy Denney — Reply
It’s a good one!
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George Moy — Reply
Your eclair cake looks good but I’m want to know for some of us who gets a little tired of chocolate,can you make it with vanilla too?because vanilla is just as good too, or other choices is coconut,for a refreshing flavor and added variety.
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Christy Denney — Reply
The pudding inside is vanilla but you could switch it up if you like
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Vicki — Reply
Everyone in our family loves this recipe. We have come back to it for several years for special occasions. It’s requested often. I’ve never made the one with graham crackers and probably never will , though the crust may look challenging , its not. Turns out perfect everytime.
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Christy Denney — Reply
Awesome to hear!
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Theresa Wells — Reply
Everyone’s favorite indeed. Absolutely love it.
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Christy Denney — Reply
Thank you!
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Valerie Martins — Reply
Can’t wait to try this recipe!
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DEBORAH CARLTON — Reply
I would like to make this for Christmas desert. Can it be mad in advance on Christmas Eve? How will it stand up and should it be refrigerated?
Thanks
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Christy Denney — Reply
Sorry it’s too late but I have made this a few days ahead and it has been fine
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Sandy — Reply
Has anyone ever made this recipe so that it can be served single serve? Would it be possible to bake it in cupcake pans? Trying to make desserts for work where people don’t have to handle utensils.
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Christy Denney — Reply
The crust is just a paux de choix so you could make little individual cups easily.
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Janice — Reply
Can Eclair cake be frozen?
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Christy Denney — Reply
I don’t see why not. It’s basically a big eclair which can be frozen.
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Lswtrvlr — Reply
Can the cream cheese be omitted?
Won’t the pudding hold up on its own?-
Christy Denney — Reply
It just gives the pudding layer more substance but yes you could leave it out.
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Carleen — Reply
I notice most recipes for Eclair Cake use graham crackers and call for refrigerating for many hours before serving.I prefer this recipe (without graham crackers), but how does this hold up in the refrigerator with the Éclair base? Wouldn’t it get very soggy? Or is this meant to be served immediately rather than made ahead of time.
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Christy Denney — Reply
It actually doesn’t get soggy and be in the fridge for a few days.
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Donna Smythe — Reply
2nd. time I made this. This time I baked on 350, raised rack to 3rd. level in oven, baked 25 mins and it turned out perfect. Next time will only make halfrecipe and use 8×8 pan, for my family size. Enjoyed so much looking forward to serving it at church suppers. Might use toasted almonds on top.
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Christy Denney — Reply
Glad you liked it!
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Paula Spahn — Reply
I have been making this same recipe for over 40 years. We call it moon pie because of the craters and hills. Its soo good. My family loves it.
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Christy Denney — Reply
I love that name! I may have to change it!
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Tera — Reply
Amazing recipes I turn mine into two pies instead if the baking dish . Never left overs. And I always make this dessert when trying to impress.
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Christy Denney — Reply
Great idea!
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