Tasty Tuesdays: Chocolate Eclair Cake

I love a good chocolate eclair cake.

I published this recipe three years ago, and since then I have changed hosts a couple of times. I also have changed recipe plugins. I decided to make this recipe for some guests that we had, and I only had the recipe (I thought) here on my blog. However, the recipe had disappeared. I had the pictures, but not the actual recipe. When I came to fix it, I found it in some of my files.

Through all of the searching, I pulled out my grandma’s recipe boxes, and found her recipe. It says that she got this recipe from my aunt. Recipes that are handed down in the family are special!

The fudgy topping and pudding filling is perfection! We think the french vanilla pudding is better than using regular vanilla pudding. The homemade fudge topping beats canned frosting for sure! It’s a dessert that all ages love and can feed 15-20 people.

Here is how I made our Chocolate Eclair Cake:

5 from 1 vote

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Chocolate Eclair Cake

Servings: 15

Ingredients

For Pudding

• 2 3 ounce packages instant french vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups milk
• 1 8 ounce container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 16 ounce package chocolate graham crackers

For icing

• 6 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cup white sugar
• 4 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Different icing recipe

• 2/3 c. milk
• 6 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c cocoa
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 c. sugar (white/granulated)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine pudding mix and 2 cups milk; mix well. Fold in whipped topping. Put in refrigerator for 5 minutes.

2. In a buttered 9″ x 13″ inch baking dish, spread a layer of graham crackers on the bottom of the dish.
3. Spread 1/2 of the pudding mixture over crackers, then top with graham crackers. Spread remaining pudding over crackers; top second pudding layer with another layer of crackers.
4. To make topping: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine milk, cocoa and sugar and allow to boil until sugar is not grainy. I was stirring almost constantly so that it would not burn, so it was almost boiling for 3-5 minutes and then boiling for a couple of minutes. It may need less time if your icing gets to a rapid boil quickly. Watch carefully and stir so that it does not burn. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Mix well and cool.
5. Carefully spread icing over graham cracker layer and refrigerate until set; serve.

Recipe Notes

I followed most of the recipe found here for the first set of instructions for the chocolate icing:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/17172/chocolate-eclair-cake/

The second set of ingredients for the chocolate icing was from my grandma’s recipe. Her directions say to bring the ingredients to a boil and stir until smooth. Cool before putting on cake. I did not boil the ingredients for long. Once they got to a good boil, I turned it off and let it cool.

Just use one of the chocolate icing recipes.

The selling point for me is that chocolate eclair cake can be made the day before you need it. In fact, it tastes better if you make it 24 hours before you want to eat it. A couple of weeks ago, I had guests over for Sunday dinner. I made my Baked Ziti recipe a couple of days before and made the Chocolate Eclair Cake the day before. Sunday was stress-free and the meal was delicious!

One wonderful feature of Chocolate Eclair Cake is that it can be made so many different ways. Chocolate pudding could be made instead of vanilla pudding. Chocolate graham crackers could be used instead of honey graham crackers. Both flavors of pudding could be used as there are 2 layers of pudding, and it would be fun to make a checkerboard pattern using both flavors of graham crackers. Instead of making the icing, store-bought frosting could be used. The frosting would just have to be warmed up in the microwave and spread on top of the cake.

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