Eclair Cake

5 from 79 votes

Graham crackers, vanilla pudding, and dark chocolate frosting layered in a pan. This no bake eclair cake chills overnight and slices into clean squares.

Prep Time20

Chill Time10

Total Time10 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: eclair cake recipe

Servings:

Calories: 483kcal

Ingredients

14.4 ounce box graham crackers, plain or honey (27 full sheets, 9 per layer)
6.8 ounces instant French Vanilla pudding (two 3.4-ounce boxes)
16 ounces Cool Whip, thawed overnight in the refrigerator (two 8-ounce tubs)
3 ½ cups cold whole milk
16 ounces dark chocolate fudge frosting

Instructions

Spray a 9x13x3-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray on the bottom and lightly on the sides. It’s very important to use a dish that is 3 inches deep because it creates space for the graham crackers to be snug up against all of the edges.
Whisk the pudding and cold milk together in a large bowl until smooth, then let the bowl sit for 5 minutes. The pudding is ready when a spoon dragged through it leaves a track that holds its shape for a second before closing over. If the track fills in right away, wait 2 more minutes and check again. Do not add the Cool Whip until the pudding has thickened.
Fold in the Cool Whip by hand with a spatula, cutting down through the middle of the bowl and turning the mixture up over itself. Do not use a mixer at this stage. Stop when there are no more white and yellow swirls and the mix is fully yellow and uniform.
Layer 9 full graham cracker sheets along the bottom of the pan, covering the entire bottom to the edges. Five sheets stand tall across the pan, two lie sideways along the top edge, and a broken piece fills the last gap.
Divide the pudding mixture in half.
Spoon the first half of the pudding mixture onto the graham cracker layer in dabs across the whole surface, then spread from dab to dab with an offset spatula until fully covered. Adding it all in one spot pushes the crackers underneath out of line. Do your best to get each layer as level as possible, so your end product is evenly distributed.
Lay a second layer of 9 graham cracker sheets on top of the pudding layer to the edges.
Fully spread the remaining pudding mixture over the second layer of graham crackers.
Lay the third and final layer of 9 graham cracker sheets to the edges.
Transfer your tub of dark chocolate fudge frosting to a microwave-safe bowl (do not microwave it in the tub) and microwave for 30 seconds, remove, and stir fully.
Microwave for another 30 seconds, stir and remove any lumps. Immediately pour the frosting onto the final layer of graham crackers and spread gently to the edges. With two hands, give your whole dish a gentle shake back and forth for a few seconds to level out your layers!
Cover in saran wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 10 hours or overnight.
When you’re ready to serve your cake, remove it from the fridge and let the cake sit uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes for it to get that beautiful shine restored to the frosting topping.

Notes

The pudding will not set with dairy-free or lactose-free milk. Make sure you are using regular milk in this recipe.
A box of graham crackers usually comes with a broken piece or two. These pieces work great to fill in the gaps along edges or along the uneven edge of a cracker that’s slightly broken.
This recipe uses 27 full graham cracker sheets, 9 per layer. A 14.4 ounce box of Honey Maid or Keebler holds three sleeves of 9 sheets, so one box covers all three layers with a broken piece or two left over. Store brand and gluten free graham crackers often have smaller sheets or fewer per sleeve, so buy a second box if you are using one of those.
If you want to weigh your pudding mixture after it's been mixed to get a more precise measurement of it divided in half, you can! Humidity can affect the weight and swell of Cool Whip, so that could slightly impact your weight. The full batch weighs about 1468 grams or 3.2 pounds, so each half should be about 734 grams or 1.6 pounds. Weigh the whole bowl first, then move half of it into a second bowl.
Chilling your dessert is not optional. It is very important that this step happens because the pudding and frosting need to set, and the graham crackers need to soften up.

Nutrition