Do Enjoy These Two Takes (!) on a Giant Eclair Cake

Super-size your éclair for a creamy, chocolatey dessert that's sure to impress.

By Melissa Gray

and

Genevieve Yam

Updated February 19, 2024

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Overhead view of Eclair Paris brest slices — Serious Eats / Jen Causey

In This Recipe

Why It Works

Swapping instant pudding for an airy mixture of whipped cream and vanilla bean-infused pastry cream results in a more complex-tasting filling.
Coating the top of the éclair cake with a semi-sweet chocolate ganache instead of ready-made frosting balances the dessert with a pleasant bittersweetness.
We give you two options: The first is the simpler, classic no-bake éclair cake with graham crackers. The other is a true larger-format éclair complete with crème mousseline, a choux pastry ring, and chocolate glaze.

If I could eat an éclair every day, I’d be a very happy woman. Unfortunately, I do not live in France, nor I am not located near a French bakery—and I most certainly do not have the time or energy to make éclairs frequently at home. I reserve éclairs for special occasions, and even then it’s hard to convince myself it’s worth piping, baking, filling, and glazing an entire tray of little fingers of choux pastry. The good news is that there are two different ways of making large-format éclair cakes that evoke the original without prompting your carpal tunnel to flare up.

Overhead view of eclair paris brest — Serious Eats / Jen Causey

How to Make a Classic Éclair Cake

A classic éclair is a refined confection of golden choux filled with pastry cream and glazed with chocolate, but the thing most people think of when they hear "éclair cake" is decidedly less formal: An icebox cake in which graham crackers are layered with boxed pudding mix, refrigerated until softened, then topped with store-bought chocolate frosting.

That's all well and good, and we appreciate an easy dessert that can feed a crowd while requiring literally no investment of time or skill to whip together. But if you need a recipe to explain how to fill a baking dish with boxed pudding, boxed crackers, and boxed frosting, then we've got a really great recipe for boiling water to show you next! No, this is Serious Eats, so we're not gonna do that. We're gonna be just a little more ambitious—just enough to transform something extremely ho-hum into something still relatively easy but significantly more delicious.

Side view of eclair cake — Serious Eats / Jen Causey

Instead of instant pudding, we are using an airy mixture of whipped cream and vanilla-bean infused pastry cream. To sound fancy, we could use the French terms "crème pâtissière" for the pastry cream and "crème légère" for the mixture of the pastry cream with the whipped cream, but in the spirit of this shamelessly Americanized dessert, we'll stick with the English here, thank you very much, mon frère.

For those who came here expecting boxed pudding mix, don't run away just yet! We promise, pastry cream may sound like the kind of thing that requires a culinary school degree to make, but it's so simple, and so, so much better. You can do it, and now's the time.

Overhead view of eclair cake — Serious Eats / Jen Causey

As for the chocolate, we skip the ready-made frosting and opt for a simple semi-sweet ganache instead, which brings a pleasant bitterness that balances the dessert. "Ganache" is another word that may send some running to the nearest aisle of Betty Crocker (no hate, no hate), but please stay. If you can heat butter and cream and pour it over dark chocolate, you can make ganache. (In fact, if you do that, you will have, by definition, made ganache. It's easy, I promise.)

The graham crackers remain the graham crackers: We get it, the brilliant ease of this recipe is that there's no baking involved, and we're staying true to that.

How to Make What Is, Essentially, a Giant Éclair

Okay, but this is Serious Eats, and you don't think we're just gonna pump out a slightly jazzed-up recipe for an éclair cake and call it a day, did you? It's called an éclair cake, and last we checked, the defining element of an éclair is that it's made from choux pastry. So we asked a simple question: Can we super-size it?

And yes, yes we can. This is the show-stopper version, and it is designed to impress.

Taking our inspiration from the classic Paris-Brest, in which choux is baked in a large ring and then filled with praline cream, this version fills the ring with vanilla crème mousseline and is then topped with a glossy chocolate glaze.

Side view of Eclair Paris Brest — Serious Eats / Jen Causey

This version of the recipe is, without question, more complicated. But let's look at the facts: First, it's still easier than making traditional éclairs, since one large choux pastry ring is easier to pipe and bake than many individual choux fingers. Second, we've already made the choux part of the process easier for you with the help of science. Instead of the vague instructions in most recipes, we use precise temperatures that you can easily measure with a thermometer for perfect choux every time, no guesswork involved.

As with the American éclair cake recipe described above, pastry cream once again has a starring role here, this time in the form of crème mousseline, or what I like to call fancy buttercream: Instead of beating butter with powdered sugar to make buttercream, we beat pastry cream into the butter. Whipped until light and fluffy, the filling’s velvety texture complements the crisp, airy choux.

Overhead view of piping cream into choux — Serious Eats / Jen Causey

Last but not least, there’s an easy chocolate glaze of butter, corn syrup, and semi-sweet chocolate that comes together in one bowl with the help of the microwave. The dessert tastes just like an éclair, except you can cut it in big, hulking slices to serve to friends or, let's be honest, keep it all to yourself because that's the real spirit of an Americanized dessert: Making it big and then eating too much.

No matter which version you decide to make, the important thing to remember is: There’s a confection for every occasion, even if the occasion is sitting on your couch alone with a giant éclair cake.

Editor's Note

This recipe was developed by Melissa Gray; the headnote was written by Genevieve Yam.

Recipe Details

The Eclair Cake Recipe I Want to Make on Repeat

Prep 35 mins

Cook 5 mins

Chilling Time 3 hrs

Total 3 hrs 40 mins

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Ingredients

For the Easy Éclair Cake
24 graham cracker sheets (14 ounces; 379g)1/4 cup powdered sugar (1 ounce; 28g)
1 teaspoon (15ml) vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (600ml) heavy whipping cream, divided
1 recipe Pastry Cream, at room temperature, about 68°F (20°C)
1 1/2 cups chopped 56% semi-sweet chocolate (8 ounces; 226g)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (1/2 ounce; 14g)
For the Éclair Paris-Brest
For the Choux Pastry:
1 recipe Choux Pastry (made with milk and water and the optional sugar), transferred to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch star tip
1 large egg
1 tablespoon (15ml) water
For the Crème Mousseline:
226g (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened to about 68°F (20°C)
1 recipe Pastry Cream, at room temperature, about 68°F (20°C)
For the Chocolate Glaze:
113g chopped semi-sweet chocolate, 56% cacao (4 ounces; 3/4 cup)
60g unsalted butter (2 ounces; 1/4 cup), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon (15g) light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use half as much by volume

Directions

Easy Éclair Cake

Place about 7 of the graham cracker sheets in an even layer in a 9- by 13- inch baking dish, breaking up crackers as needed to fill space; set aside.
Serious Eats / Jen Causey
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, vanilla, and 1 1/2 cups of the heavy cream until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. (See notes.) Place pastry cream in a large bowl, and, using a rubber spatula, gently fold whipped cream into pastry cream until just combined. Using an offset spatula, spread half of the pastry cream mixture (about 18 ounces; 510g) in an even layer over graham crackers. Place about 8 of the graham cracker sheets in an even layer over pastry cream mixture, breaking up crackers as needed to fill space. Using the offset spatula, top with remaining half of pastry cream mixture in an even layer. Place remaining 9 graham cracker sheets in an even layer, breaking up crackers as needed to fill space. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until pudding is set, about 1 hour.
Serious Eats / Jen Causey
Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl; set aside. In a small saucepan set over medium-high heat, bring butter and remaining 1 cup cream to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly, until it begins to bubble around the edges, about 4 minutes. Pour over chocolate (do not stir); let stand for 10 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir together until smooth, about 1 minute. Remove cake from refrigerator. Pour chocolate mixture over top of set cake, using an offset spatula to spread ganache into an even layer. Re-cover with plastic wrap, making sure it doesn’t touch the surface of the chocolate, and refrigerate until set and graham crackers are softened, at least 2 hours or up to 12 hours.
Serious Eats / Jen Causey

Special Equipment

9- by 13- inch baking dish, rubber spatula, offset spatula, medium heatproof bowl

Notes

If whipping cream with a stand mixer: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine sugar, vanilla, and 1 1/2 cups heavy cream. Whisk on low speed until sugar is fully dissolved, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high. Continue to whisk until stiff peaks form, about 1 minute 10 seconds.

Éclair Paris Brest

Prepare the Choux: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 425°F (220ºC). Using a pen or pencil, trace an 8-inch circle in the center of a 12- by 16-inch sheet of parchment paper. Flip parchment over so that drawn ring is on underside and set on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Pipe a small amount of choux dough under each corner of parchment paper lining baking sheet (dough acts as a glue and keeps paper in place as you pipe).
Serious Eats / Jen Causey
Holding filled pastry bag at a 90 degree angle, about 1-inch away from parchment paper, apply steady pressure and slowly pipe ring of choux along traced circle. To stop piping, cease applying pressure and swirl pastry tip away from piped ring. Pipe a second ring of choux just inside first ring, making sure that the two rings are touching one another. Pipe a third, final ring of choux on top of, and nestling in the groove between, the two piped rings. To smooth out surface of dough, dip a finger into additional cold water and gently pat down any bumps as needed.
Serious Eats / Jen Causey
In a small bowl, whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon water until smooth. Using a pastry brush, gently brush choux rings with egg wash. Bake in preheated oven until choux is puffed and light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce oven temperature to 350°F (175ºC). Bake until deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Turn off oven, partially open door, and let choux stand in turned-off oven for 30 minutes to allow pastry to dry and fully set. Remove from oven and let cool completely, about 15 minutes.
Serious Eats / Jen Causey
While choux is cooling in oven, prepare the Crème Mousseline: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until fluffy and light, about 5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down bowl and beater. With mixer on medium speed, add pastry cream a few tablespoons at a time, pausing to scrape down bowl and paddle as needed, until thoroughly incorporated, about 1 minute. Switch to whisk attachment and whip mixture on medium speed until Crème Mousseline is soft and airy, about 3 minutes. Transfer Crème Mousseline to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch star tip; refrigerate until ready to use.
Serious Eats / Jen Causey
Transfer cooled choux ring to a large cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut choux ring in half horizontally. Carefully lift top off and place on a wire rack set inside a large, rimmed baking sheet; set aside.
Serious Eats / Jen Causey
Prepare the Chocolate Glaze: Place chocolate, butter, corn syrup, and salt in a medium-size, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high power in 15 second increments, stirring after each increment, until chocolate is melted and mixture is completely smooth, about 1 minute total. Gently pour over top choux ring in an even layer. Allow glaze to set, at room temperature, about 45 minutes.
Serious Eats / Jen Causey
Pipe Crème Mousseline in even rosettes about 1 1/2-inch-high onto cut side of bottom half of choux ring, making sure to apply steady pressure while piping. Place glazed top half of choux ring over piped filling. Using a serrated knife, lice into portions, and serve.
Serious Eats / Jen Causey

Special Equipment

Parchment paper, rimmed baking sheet, pastry bag, 3/4-inch star tip, pastry brush, whisk, wire rack, stand mixer, serrated knife

Make Ahead and Storage

The choux can be made up to 2 hours before using; keep at room temperature in a sealed pastry bag or with plastic pressed against its surface to prevent a skin from forming.

The pastry cream can be stored in an airtight container, with plastic wrap or buttered parchment placed directly on the surface, and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

The finished pastry should be enjoyed immediately.