Eclair Cake

Fancy desserts that take tons of work and preparation and require exquisite presentation are fun to do for certain occasions such as birthdays, a special dinner party, or if say, the pope should decide to stop by for a visit. Otherwise, I'm all about the dessert that is easy and tastes good, even if it doesn't look like anything special sitting in its very un-fancy square baking dish. Sometimes, you just need something that tastes good to shove in your pie hole, especially if you're feeding a crowd, and this fits the bill. Bonus: it's so easy to make that even the most baking challenged person could handle it.

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and only made one modification. It originally calls for chocolate icing on top which I thought sounded rather disgusting. Instead, I topped off the dessert with a chocolate ganache which was, in my opinion, the better option.

Eclair Cake

2 pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 C milk
1 (16 oz) pkg. graham cracker squares

Ganache

9 oz chocolate (I tried both bittersweet and milk, and the milk chocolate worked better)
1 C heavy cream

To make the cake:

1. Throughly mix pudding, whipped topping and milk together in a bowl.

2. Arrange a single layer of graham crackers in the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan. Evenly spread half of the pudding mixture over the crackers. Top with another layer of crackers and the remaining pudding. Top with a final layer of graham crackers.

3. Top with chocolate ganache. Cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving.

To make the ganache:

1. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Place the cream in a sauce pan and bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Allow to cool slightly before pouring over the cake.