Éclair cake is an ideal recipe for your little chef who is just learning to cook. It requires no dangerous equipment, not even an oven. All required details of the recipe are given below.
Difficulty level
Easy
Time required
5 hours
Resources required
1. An instant vanilla pudding, 2 packets or say about 35 ounces
2. Thawed frozen whipped topping, 1 container or 8 ounces
3. Graham cracker squared, 1 packet or 16 ounces
4. Prepared chocolate frosting, packet or 16 ounces
5. Milk, 3 cups
Instructions
1. Whip the pudding mix, whipped topping and milk
In a medium bowl add in the pudding mix, the thawed frozen whipped topping and 3 cups of milk. Whip everything thoroughly, make sure it blends well.
2. The first two layers of the cake
Now take your 13×9 inches baking pan. Start with layering your graham cracker squares. The bottom of the pan will be layered with graham cracker squares only once. Now is the turn of the pudding mix. Use half of the pudding mix for the first layer of the pudding. Evenly spread the pudding mix on the top of the graham cracker squares.
3. The last two layers of the cake
On top of the vanilla pudding mix layer, lay another layer of graham cracker squares. The crackers need to be laid evenly covering the entire layer of the vanilla pudding mix. Now the final layer of the graham cracker squares. Place these graham cracker squares on top of the vanilla pudding mix properly.
4. Frost the cake with your chocolate frosting
The pack of the chocolate frosting needs to be unpacked first and then spread on top of the final layer of the graham cracker squares. Make sure you lay a thick layer of chocolate frosting on the entire cake properly. Do not forget to layer the edges of the cake with the chocolate frosting.
5. Refrigerate the cake
Now that your cake is properly layered, it is ready to be refrigerated. Place the layered cake into the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours. If required, you can refrigerate it for longer.
Quick tips
1. If you want to serve the cake instantly, simply soak each side of graham cracker squares into milk for a few seconds, till it is soft. Layer them normally and you can serve the cake without refrigerating it.
2. Make your chocolate frosting with 3tbsp of unsalted butter, 3tbsp of hot water, 3tbsp of unsweetened coco powder and 1 ½ cup of icing sugar. Mix everything well and pour the ready homemade frosting over the layered cake. The thin layer of this frosting will taste better.
3. You can add flavored crackers to layer the cake, instead of plain ones. Flavors such as coffee, cinnamon and chocolate will add to the taste of your cake.
4. Heat the frosting before pouring it over the cake. By heating the frosting you get a smooth and a shiny éclair type of a layer over your éclair cake. The heating can be done either over a pan on the gas stove or simply leave it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
5. If you let the cake sit in the refrigerator overnight, it sets better than simply 4 hours, hence the trick is to make the cake one night before you decide to serve it to your family or to your guests.
6. For low fat cake you can substitute low fat graham crackers with regular ones, sugar free pudding mix with the regular pudding mix, fat free cool whip with the regular cool whip, 2 cups of milk instead of 3 cups of skim milk. Finally use sugar free chocolate syrup instead of chocolate frosting to pour on the top of the cake. Try it, it will really work wonders for people watching their weight.
7. To get the perfect éclair taste you can also use honey graham crackers instead of chocolate ones.