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Pumpkin Eclair Cake is like a cross between pumpkin cheesecake and eclairs. One of the EASIEST, and most delicious, fall dessert recipes you will ever make!
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This Pumpkin Eclair Cake is the perfect fall dessert. It has all of the flavor of pumpkin pie with a creamier and lighter texture. Run to the grocery store right now and pick up some pumpkin spice instant pudding mix, because it is only available for a little while and it disappears off the shelf FAST!
This dessert is called an eclair cake because you refrigerate it overnight in a 9×13 pan. This softens the graham crackers and gives them more of a pastry texture. Eclair cakes typically have a thicker frosting, but I wanted to incorporate white chocolate, so I made more of a glaze. I love how it turned out because it doesn’t overpower the pumpkin flavor like a thicker chocolate frosting would have.
Ingredients for Easy Pumpkin Eclair Cake
Four easy ingredients to create one of the best fall desserts! This cake is a great transition from summer to fall. I especially like this cake as an early fall dessert because it is a chilled cake and some of these “fall” days are still pretty warm.
- Graham crackers – I used honey graham crackers but you can try cinnamon graham crackers too.
- Pumpkin spice instant pudding mix – This has all the flavor and seasonings to make the perfect layers of pudding cake.
- Milk – Whisk together the pudding and milk before adding in the cool whip.
- Cool whip – Thaw your cool whip ahead of time.
Tips and Variations for Making the Best Eclair Cake
With only 4 ingredients, it is hard to have too many substitutions and variations but make this recipe just the way you like it and enjoy it with family and friends. Here are some quick tips, ideas, and a sugar-free version that may help!
- To melt the white chocolate chips, I put them in a glass bowl with a little bit of canola oil and put the medium bowl over a pot of simmering water. You can use a microwave too.
- One really important thing to remember when covering the cake is to make sure that the plastic wrap or tin foil does NOT touch the top of the cake. If it sticks to the frosting, it will pull up the top layer of graham crackers when you take it off.
- Make it low fat/sugar free by using low-fat graham crackers, sugar-free pudding, and skim milk with fat free Cool Whip.
- If you are using a shallow 9×13 pan, reduce the amount of pudding mixture when layering your dessert.
“This is a huge hit with my family!! We all love pumpkin desserts & this was the most creamy cake!”
-Kristyn
Frequently Asked Questions for Eclair Cake
Yes, vanilla pudding will work too! To keep the pumpkin flavor, add in pumpkin extract, pumpkin pie spice to the vanilla pudding.
The large box is 5.1 ounces. If you can only find the smaller boxes, use one small box and half of the pudding mixture that are 3.4 ounces.
You will want a thinner frosting consistency to be able to spread overtop of the cake. Use an offset spatula to help spread the frosting evenly.
Storing Homemade Layered Cake
This fall eclair cake is perfect to store in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days long. Keep it in the fridge when not eating since the cool whip and frosting will become room temperature and poses a health risk.
When covering the cake, be sure to use an airtight container, plastic, or foil. If you are using plastic wrap or foil, stick toothpicks in the cake to keep the wrap from touching the cake.
More Pumpkin Recipes
If you are in the mood for more pumpkin treats, try out these delicious pumpkin recipes.
How to Make Pumpkin Eclair Cake
Pumpkin Eclair Cake
Video
Equipment
- 9 x 13 Baking Pan
Ingredients
- 1 14.4 ounce package graham crackers
- 1 large box pumpkin spice instant pudding mix
- 3 1/2 cups milk
- 8 ounces Cool Whip thawed
Frosting
- 3/4 cup white chocolate chips melted
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- cinnamon optional, to taste
Instructions
- In a 9×13 pan, cover bottom with one layer of graham crackers (whole).
- Mix pudding and milk and beat for 2 minutes on medium. Gently fold in Cool Whip.
- Pour half of the mixture over the graham crackers and cover with a second layer of graham crackers.
- Pour remaining pudding mixture over the top and cover with another layer of graham crackers. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Combine remaining ingredients to make frosting. Beat until smooth.
- Spread over graham crackers and refrigerate overnight.
- Optional: Lightly sprinkle the top of the cake with cinnamon before serving.
You have taken Eclairs up several notches! So yummy and addicting!
This is a huge hit with my family!! We all love pumpkin desserts & this was the most creamy cake!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
How do you think a cream cheese frosting would be on this?
I think it would taste good, but it might be a little hard to spread! It would have to be a thinner frosting.
The recipe calls for a large box of pumpkin spice pudding mix. All I could find is the 3.4 oz. size. Is that the size I need?
The large box is 5.1 oz, so you could use most of two small ones.
How much pumpkin puree would I need if I want to use the vanilla pudding instead. Thank you 😊
I am not sure, I haven’t used vanilla pudding before for this recipe. But I would try adding pumpkin extract and a little pumpkin spice to the vanilla pudding.
The recipe calls for 2 boxes of graham crackers but I only needed 1 box and still had a little bit left over. It was delicious by the way!
The Pumpkin Pie Filling does not come in the sugar free flavor. Would I be able to use the vanilla pie filling and add some pumpkin to this to make up the pumpkin flavor. This recipe sounds great and I would love to try it. Thank you for all the recipes.
Yes, that is a great idea for going sugar free on this recipe. I would also add a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to give it the extra pumpkin flavor. Please let me know how it turns out!
Where did you find the pumpkin pudding? Have gone to two stores, and can’t find it.
I found it at Walmart here. They had it on a aisle display. If you can’t find it at a store, you can order it from Amazon. Click here.
Thank you. Enjoy your recipes.