Chocolate Eclair Cake

My grandparents just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary - congrats, Grammie and Grampie! So we decided to make them a chocolate eclair cake anniversary dessert. I guess we should have made something a little bit more sparkly - 60 is the diamond anniversary! (Maybe next time.)

Chocolate eclair cake is a pretty standard recipe in my family. We have a rip-off recipe of the Portillo's version. And if you've ever been to Portillo's, you should know about the desserts there: amazing chocolate cake, yummy chocolate cake shakes (yep, they cut up a piece of cake and blend it right in there with the shake), and chocolate eclair cake. In my family, we don't usually get the eclair cake, because our recipe tastes just about as good. I'm not sure where this recipe actually came from, but it's pretty easy, and really delicious.

Here are all the ingredients you need:

Seriously, that's it...just 6 ingredients. And you probably already have the milk (and maybe even the graham crackers) so that's really only 4 things to go out and get. You might have noticed that the can of frosting is not on the original recipe...that's because we cheat and use store bought frosting. But stay tuned for more about the frosting...

Here's the original recipe:

And here is my version:

Step 1: Mix the pudding, block of cream cheese, and 3 cups of milk together. Mix for about a minute, or until it looks like this:

It should be pretty thick, and probably a little lumpy.

Step 2: Fold in the cool whip.

Step 3: Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan with about 7 1/2 graham crackers.

Step 4: Pour half of the pudding mixture over the top of the graham crackers. Spread it out evenly, then layer another 7 1/2 graham crackers over the top of the pudding mixture.

Step 5: Pour the other half of the pudding mixture on top, then top it off with another layer of graham crackers. (You should have 3 layers of graham crackers and 2 layers of pudding.)

Step 6: Stick the can of frosting in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or until it is melty enough to pour. (Don't forget to rip off the box top and send it to me.) Then pour the melted frosting over the top layer of graham crackers. Make sure to cover the edges, too!

Step 7: Cover and refrigerate. I just placed a cookie sheet on top of the pan to cover it, so that foil or plastic wrap wouldn't stick to it and pull the melted frosting off the top.

Step 8: Enjoy your cake, and wish your grandparents "happy anniversary" (oh wait, that's just me!)