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An éclair cake is simply a chocolate éclair but bigger and better—in cake form. It’s stacked in sweet, creamy, delicious layers of pudding and graham crackers. The chocolate frosting finishes it off, creating a decadent éclair cake that is so easy to make.
My favorite part is you don’t even have to use the oven. It’s a no-bake layered dessert, so I just make the cake the day before, pull it out of the fridge, and it’s ready to serve. For other no-bake treats, try our no bake peanut butter pie and our jello pie and icebox cake recipes. So delicious!
Eclair Cake Ingredients
You will need:
- 1 box of cinnamon graham crackers
- 2 3.4 oz boxes of French Vanilla Instant Pudding
- 12 oz of Cool Whip
- 3 1/2 cups milk
- 1 tub dark chocolate frosting
ingredient substitutions & additions
TOPPINGS: Cut the éclair cake into generous squares and make it yours with whichever toppings you prefer. What doesn’t go with chocolate and vanilla filling? Sprinkle your piece with some chopped nuts or if you believe you can never have too much chocolate, add chocolate chips.
My son loves chocolate chips on his. For a topping, that’s an easy winner. I like to smother mine with some whipped cream or Cool Whip and top it off with strawberry slices. You could also add sliced bananas.
PEANUT BUTTER: Try a variation with peanut butter by adding 1 cup to the pudding and milk.
PUDDING: For a real twist of flavor, change the pudding to banana or lemon. Try strawberry pudding for one layer and vanilla on another. Mix and match. Éclair cakes are both versatile and beautiful so you can you really play with flavor combinations.
GRAHAM CRACKERS: Get creative by alternating between chocolate or honey graham crackers.
FROSTING: If you’re a milk chocolate fan rather than dark chocolate, go for it! Kids love the sweeter taste of milk chocolate and I don’t blame them! The frosting could even be delicious cream cheese frosting. The options are endless!
How to Make an Eclair Cake
This easy dessert takes no time at all to assemble. It may not be from scratch, but that’s the beauty of it. Quick and easy éclair cake here we come!
STEP ONE: Begin by mixing together the dry pudding mix and the milk. Blend well for about two minutes. Then fold in the Cool Whip with a spoon or a spatula.
STEP TWO: Grab a 9×11 pan and coat it with non-stick spray or parchment paper. Cover the entire bottom of the pan with a layer of whole graham crackers. Break the crackers apart as needed to cover the pan.
STEP THREE: Next, spread only half of the pudding mixture over the top of the graham cracker layer.
STEP FOUR: Repeat steps by adding a second layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding layer. Then pour the rest of the pudding mixture over the next set of graham crackers.
STEP FIVE: Finish the last layer with more graham crackers. I wasn’t kidding—this is why you need a whole box of graham crackers!
STEP SIX: Microwave the chocolate frosting for 20-30 seconds to make it easy to pour over the cake. Evenly spread the warm frosting over the top layer of graham crackers.
STEP SEVEN: Put the éclair cake in the fridge to chill for 12-24 hours. I know, having to wait overnight is the hardest part. But this is when the magic happens! You want the graham crackers to be nice and soft.
The creamy, rich layers of pudding, graham crackers, and chocolate make this Eclair Cake the perfect dessert year-round. It’s cool and light in the spring and summer, and it’s the best comfort for cozying up in the house during fall and winter. You can’t beat the superb results for a treat that takes minimal effort to make.
More easy dessert Recipes You Will Love
- Chocolate Icebox Cake
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Lasagna
- Lemon Poke Cake
- Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cake
- Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread
- Banana Pudding Cake
- Lemon Lush
- Banana Split Cake
No Bake Eclair Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box of cinnamon graham crackers
- 2x 3.4 oz boxes of French Vanilla Instant Pudding
- 12 oz of Cool Whip
- 3 1/2 cups milk
- 1 tub dark chocolate frosting
Instructions
- Spray a 9×11 pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Mix pudding and milk using a mixer, then fold in Cool Whip using a spoon.
- Next, layer graham crackers along the bottom of the pan covering the entire bottom.
- Divide the pudding mixture in half and spread the first half on top of the graham cracker layer.
- Next, spread the second layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding layer.
- Lay a final layer of graham crackers.
- Microwave the dark chocolate frosting for 20-30 seconds to make it easier to spread.
- Spread the warmed frosting over the top layer of graham crackers evenly, then refrigerate for 24 hours.
This looks amazingly delicious! Makes my mouth water just looking at it!
This looks so good! I’m from New Zealand and we don’t have Graham crackers over here, are they kind of like pastry? Could I cook a couple of sheets of puff pastry to use in their place? And is cool whip just like cream? Thank you so much!
Graham crackers are like a cracker with cinnamon sugar flavor. Puff pastry is different, so I think it would change the texture of the recipe. Cool Whip is similar to whip cream!
In the U.K., digestive biscuits are what we call graham crackers in the US, if that helps. They are a slightly sweet, crisp, whole meal ‘biscuit’. Leibniz might work in their place. Hope that helps.
Thank you, Fran!! ♥
Love love love this recipe! I could eat it every single day.
Love the recipe! My 5 year old had so much fun making it. I did find it to be a tad too sweet. Any suggestions on how to make it less sweet?
Thanks!
Instead of cool whip, I used homemade whipped cream with no sugar so it wasn’t as sweet 🙂
How many days could you make this in advance and it still be ok? Would 3 days be too many? (I have so many things going on and travel for Thanksgiving so I’m trying to plan my time wisely)
You could make it a day ahead of time, like maybe Wednesday morning for serving at Thanksgiving. I think three days and it would be a little too soggy to enjoy. Good luck 🙂
One of my family’s favorite desserts! I add one additional ingredient … one 8 oz package of cream cheese! Adds some extra richness! (Not that it needs it, but so delish! )
My husband loves eclairs so I had to try this. He really likes it. I won’t use the cinnamon Graham crackers next time. I would also use more pudding and less cool whip. But overall an easy and tasty crowd pleaser!!
My daughter and I made this today and it was fun to make and even more fun to eat!!! 🙂 So good, thank you!!