Simple No Bake Chocolate Éclair Cake

This simple, NO BAKE chocolate éclair cake has all the flavors you expect when you bite into an éclair. The chocolate topping, creamy filling, all in a perfect cake form can easily feed a crowd. Best part? The prep time is super short and it literally takes no time to make!

Why This Recipe Works

The traditional eclair is a French pastry made with choux dough. That dough is then filled with cream and topped with icing. You’ll most likely see them in a bakery as the oblong-shaped pastry with chocolate icing on top.

Whether you’re a true baker at heart or not, this no-bake cake recipe takes the best of all the traditional eclair parts and conveniently puts them into something even your kids can help make. And it turns out to be just as delicious. The only thing baking about this recipe is the baking dish used to combine all the ingredients!

Skip the Dough

This recipe allows you to skip creating the choux dough and use something just as filling and with a bit more flavor – graham crackers. These are a prized possession by kids and adults alike and their cracker form makes them perfect for recipes like this.

Instant Pudding Filling Instead of Cream

Back to the tradition, eclairs are typically filled with a cream that is a thick custard. Making this from scratch means combining milk, egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar, and butter. But when you’re looking for simple and quick, using a pudding mix makes things much easier.

Instant vanilla pudding, whipped topping, and whole milk will yield the same custard-like results but with a fraction of the ingredients and less amount of time. It’s a win-win!

3-Ingredient Chocolate Glaze

If the cream filling and “dough” parts of this recipe weren’t easy enough… this glaze will definitely be. It’s made of melted semisweet chocolate chips, heavy cream, and light corn syrup. These are combined and conveniently warmed in the microwave and cooled before being added to the top of the eclair cake.

Simple No Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake Recipe

This cake starts with a layer of graham crackers, then it is topped with a beautiful thick rich layer of instant vanilla pudding mix and whipped cream (cool whip). This deliciousness gets layered again before it is finally topped off with a decadent chocolate frosting.

Pop the finished masterpiece into the refrigerator and let it chill for about 8 hours. Then enjoy! This is one of those desserts you can serve along with milk, extra cool whip, or even some extra chocolate chips sprinkled on top.

Variations to Consider

If you’re looking to change things up a bit, start with the kind of pudding you use. Instead of plain vanilla, opt-in for French vanilla pudding. For an added fill, add an additional top layer of graham crackers before adding the chocolate topping.

Overall, this cake is delicious and addictive. Be prepared to make more! And let us know if you gave this recipe a try!