Cream Puff Cake Recipe

A slice of layered eclair dessert on a blue flowered plate with a blue napkin and another slice of cream puff cake in the background.

This chocolate cream puff cake has all the elements of French eclairs but made in a 9x13" pan for easy serving and slicing. Decorate this guy with ganache for Halloween or for any occasion, or just drizzle it on. You're going to love this all-homemade version of eclair cake!

Course Custard and Pudding Recipes

Cuisine American by way of France

Prep Time 35

Cook Time 50

Cooling and Chilling Time 8

Total Time 9 25

Servings slices

Calories 420kcal

Author Jennifer Field

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Pate a Choux

8 oz whole milk, water, or a combination of both 1 cup
4 oz unsalted butter 1 stick cut into small pieces
1 Tablespoon sugar
large pinch kosher salt
4 oz all-purpose flour 1 scant cup
4 eggs large

For the Pastry Cream

8 oz cream cheese 1 block at room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
32 oz whole milk 1 quart or 4 cups
8 oz sugar 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons
1.1 oz cornstarch 4 Tablespoons
4 egg yolks large
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

For the Whipped Cream

12 oz heavy whipping cream 1 1/2 cups
2 Tablespoons sugar whisked together with 1 1/2 teaspoons of instant clear jel optional
tiny pinch of kosher salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Ganache (SEE NOTES for a "looser" ganache)

6 oz semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips 1 cup
3 oz half and half or heavy cream 1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon

Instructions

For the Pate a Choux

Spray a 9x13" glass baking dish with pan spray. Set aside.
Set a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 400F.
Put the milk, butter, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan.
Heat over medium heat until the butter is mostly melted. Increase heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.
Dump the flour in all at one time. Stir vigorously with a heatproof spatula or a wooden spoon until the flour has absorbed all the liquid. Continue to cook for another minute or two, beating it constantly, to dry out the dough just a bit. It will look like mashed potatoes when you're done.
Put the cooked dough in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
Stir with a spoon or beat on medium low for a minute or two to help the dough cool down a bit.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the bowl well before adding the next. Once all the eggs are in, the dough will flow slowly like lava and will come to a shiny point when it flows off the beater.
Scrape the dough into the prepared pan, smoothing it out to the edges with an offset spatula. Build up the edges so they are a bit thicker.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until deeply golden brown and very, very puffy and firm to the touch. It will look uneven. That's okay.
Poke small holes in the baked crust with the point of a knife to let steam escape. Allow to cool completely, about 1-1 1/2 hours.

For the Pastry Cream

Put the cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl. Fit a strainer over the top, and set aside convenient to the stove.
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk together the milk, sugar, cornstarch, eggs, and salt.
Heat the milk mixture over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium and continue to cook and whisk constantly for 2 minutes to fully activate the cornstarch.
Pour the custard through the strainer into the cream cheese and vanilla. Let sit for 2-3 minutes to help melt the cream cheese.
Whisk until completely smooth.

For the Whipped Cream

Once your pastry cream has chilled, put the whipped cream ingredients in a medium bowl (if using a hand mixer) or in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment.
Whip until the cream reaches medium-firm peaks.

For the Ganache

Put the cream and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl or glass measure.
Heat at full power for 1 minute.
Stir well. If the ganache isn't completely smooth, heat at full power for 10 seconds at a time, stirring in between. Your ganache should be shiny and smooth in no more than 1 1/2 minutes, and most likely less.

To Assemble and Decorate

Once the pate a choux has cooled completely, pour the hot pastry cream into the crust and spread out to the edges of the pan.
Press plastic wrap on the surface of the pastry cream and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours.
Spread the whipped cream in an even layer on top of the chilled pastry cream.
Either drizzle on the ganache in a random design or put into a ziptop bag and snip off one small corner. Pipe whatever decorations you'd like.
Chill the eclair cake another 2 hours before slicing and serving.
Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Nutritional information is based on 16 servings.

You can also bake this eclair dessert in a half-sheet pan or jelly roll pan. The crust, pastry cream, and whipped cream will not be as thick, and the pate a choux will probably bake in about 20-25 minutes. It's a nice option if you want to serve a lot of people.

To Make an 8"x8" square

Follow the procedures in the main recipe. Here are the ingredient amounts.

For the Pate a Choux

4 oz water, milk or a combination
2 oz (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 oz (about 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
2 eggs (NOTE: I needed about an extra 1/3 egg to get it to the proper consistency. If the batter doesn't flow off your spoon and end in a point, but rather looks all jaggedy or doesn't really flow, beat an egg and add a little bit at a time until it behaves itself)

For the Custard

4 oz cream cheese, softened (if NOT using cream cheese, increase the cornstarch to 3 Tablespoons)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
16 oz/2 cups whole milk
3.5-4 oz granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch (3 if not using cream cheese)
2 egg yolks
heavy pinch of salt
1 oz butter (only if NOT using cream cheese)

For the Whipped Cream

8 oz heavy cream
1 teaspoon instant clear jel whisked together with 2-3 Tablespoons powdered or granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Ganache

NOTE: I made a "looser" ganache because I didn't really need it to hold its shape. It worked really well, so feel free to up the amounts and use it on the full-sized eclair cake.

3 oz finely chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
4.5 oz heavy cream
1 Tablespoon corn syrup (optional, for shine)

Nutrition