If you’re in the midst of holiday prep and want an easy, relaxing, dessert that the kids can help make, here’s one of our family's favorites. It's a small batch Chocolate Éclair Cake recipe, and I think it's the best! If you've never heard of this dessert, it's an icebox cake made with graham crackers, instant pudding, whipped cream and frosting. It gets its name from the filling, which is similar to the Bavarian cream used in the namesake pastries. Most people who taste it, at least in my experience, think it tastes better than the sum of its parts!
Small Batch 8-Inch Pan Chocolate Éclair Cake Recipe
Since I have a lot of other desserts coming up next week, I made the Éclair Cake in an-8 inch square dish. Most recipes are double this and call for a 13x9 inch dish. Éclair Cake in an 8-inch square dish is just the right size for a small family. And if you are a very small family or baking for 2, it freezes well.
Chocolate ÉclairCake Recipe for an 8 Inch Pan
Here's a more recent photo of the whole cake. I usually make Small Batch Chocolate Éclair Cake with three layers of crackers and two layers of pudding, though the one one in the photo above was made with 4 layers of crackers and 3 layers of pudding. The 3 layers of graham cracker is the best.
Here's a cross-section photo. French Vanilla is our instant flavor pudding of choice, but if you can't find the French Vanilla regular Vanilla is perfectly fine.
Time needed: 1 day and 9 hours
How to Make Easy Chocolate Éclair Cake
- Make the pudding mixture.
Whisk pudding mix and milk together, let thicken, then fold in whipped topping.
- Lay some graham crackers in an 8-inch glass dish.
Arrange graham cracker squares across the bottom of an 8-inch baking dish. Add a layer of pudding mix, a layer of graham crackers, a second layer of pudding mix and a final layer of crackers.
- Make the easy chocolate frosting and spread it over the top.
Beat softened butter, cocoa and sugar together, then add milk and beat until creamy and smooth. Beat in vanilla. Spread over the top.
- Cover and chill for about 8 hours or until ready to slice.
Chilling for 8 hours is recommended, but you can probably get away with 6.
Chocolate Éclair Cake for Two
Sometimes even an 8-inch pan is too much. While you can always freeze what's left, an alternative is to halve the recipe and build your cake in a loaf pan. Just weigh out half a box of pudding mix and use half the milk, whipped topping, etc.
Lower Calorie Version
To lighten things up, use sugar free pudding mix and reduced fat whipped cream. For the icing, you can try using a powdered sugar alternative or just skip the scratch icing and use one of the new Pillsbury Zero Sugar frostings. I have not tried them yet but they are supposed to be pretty good.
A Few More Pudding Desserts
Recipe
Small Batch Chocolate Éclair Cake
Ingredients
- 3.4 oz box instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 ½ cups milk 2%
- ½ tub Cool Whip (4 oz or 114 grams)
- ½ box graham crackers (7 oz)
Chocolate Icing
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 3 tablespoons natural unsweetened baking cocoa
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk, warmed
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Whisk pudding mix and milk for about 2 minutes. Pudding should start to thicken. Fold in the whipped topping or freshly whipped cream.
- Arrange graham cracker squares across the bottom of an 8 inch baking dish. You may need to break some of them into small pieces to cover the bottom of the dish. Spread some of the pudding mixture across the graham crackers. Layer on more graham crackers and more pudding mix twice so that you have a total of 3 layers of graham crackers and two layers of pudding mixture.
- To make the icing, beat the butter, cocoa powder and sugar together, then add milk and beat until creamy and smooth. Beat in vanilla.
- Cover and chill for about 8 hours (I usually cut it sooner).
Anna says
Sharon, that is so true! We are usually a bit impatient and cut into things too soon, but overnight really improves the texture. I just made a double batch of this for a potluck and used a pan disposable pan that wasn't quite 9x13 inches. It was so much better on day 2.
Sharon says
at 6 hours, it was just ok.but at 24 hours was a keeper,will definitely make this summer,so easy to make.your directions are easy to follow.thanks for sharing.
Anna says
Thank you for the review, P! I'm glad the small batch version came in handy.
Patricia Russell says
Excellent Recipe! Great for small group! Delicious and Easy! My guests loved it.
Anna says
Glad it's useful, Annette! My husband likes this so much he requested it as his birthday cake.
Also, it does freeze well if you are making it for two. One little trick is to line the square pan with plastic wrap, assemble in the plastic wrap lined pan, chill, freeze, then lift from pan and slice into squares while frozen. Let the squares thaw in the refrigerator and keep the remainder frozen and tightly wrapped.
Annette says
Its amazing how such simple ingredients make such an amazing desert ! Thanks for posting the family size recipe !
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
This looks amazing! Hope you are doing well! Alison
Chef Pants says
this looks really delicious, This was my all time favorite dessert, Still my mouth is melting to seen this delicious,thanks for share it.
Mackenzie@ The Caramel Cookie says
Oh my gosh Anna! This was my all-time favorite dessert that my mom used to make for me! Her recipe used sour cream but I had to stop eating it since I couldn't find a good lactose-free replacement for it. This recipe looks great and I can make it lactose free! You rock!!!!
Debbi says
Hi!!! This cake sounds awesome, but I am looking for something to bring for the holidays, so need the full size recipe. Do I just double it, or can someone let me know the website for the fullsize one. I did a search for it but nothing came up.
Thanks!
Stephanie@PlainChicken says
I LOVE this stuff!! I haven't made it in years. I think I need to make for the holidays.
Anna says
Kathy, if you like pumpkin you might want to see if your grocery store has the pumpkin flavored Jell-O pudding mix. I looks like it's a seasonal product, but I saw it and *almost* bought it to make a pumpkin flavored eclair cake. In the end, I opted to go for our old favorite, but I think this same recipe made with pumpkin pudding and topped with either chocolate (though not in your case) or vanilla frosting with a touch of cinnamon mixed in would be great.
Tiffany says
I make a version of this with Nutter Butter cookies. Yum!
Kathy says
I cant eat chocolate so the pumpkin idea sounds pretty good. What do you think would be a good topping?
Amy at TheSceneFromMe says
Fantastico! Anything that has the same name as a doughnut or would resemble its taste is a must in my food book. I will be trying this recipe soon!
the blissful baker says
yum, this looks decadent and delicious!
Linda J. says
Yum, I'm thinking a simple homemade chocolate ganache for the top and we're good to go! Thanks for the recipe.
Denise Michaels - Adventurous Foodie says
Just right for those in a hurry dinner and desserts when you want something everyone will ooh and ahh over without the fuss and muss. I like to think when I bake I'll do it from scratch. And usually that's true.
But let's be honest - there are moment's in every cook's life when it's just not realistic to start sifting and all and mess up the whole kitchen. Great idea!
Michelle says
Thanks for posting a scaled down version of this recipe. I tried the large version for the first time this past Easter and it was a hit. This size will be perfect for small families.
Cheryl says
It is amazing how versatile Jello products are. I'm using sugar-free instant vanilla pudding along with pumpkin, spices and cool whip for a lo-cal dessert after Thanksgiving. Perhaps I will layer it with graham crackers.
Jeanette says
Love this dessert, especially after it "ages" a day or so. Your photo of it is gorgeous~
Chicken on the Green says
This is my absolute favorite dessert- you are so right that it is so much better than the sum of its parts! Thanks for posting the "small version."