Chocolate Eclair Cake recipe

I received this note this morning:

Do you have any idea whether Portillo's restaurant was the party guilty of -- er, responsible for concocting a creation called "Chocolate Eclair Cake," recipes for which are now circulating nonstop around the Internet? Any leads appreciated. . . .

You really don't want to know the ingredients. The most respectable is graham crackers.

Not quite sure what was being referred to, I looked up Portillos who described:

Chocolate Éclair Cake
Serves 10-12 $19.99
Four layers of graham crackers with éclair filling layered in between, topped with a chocolate frosting.

I found a blogger replicating their recipe here: http://gsrecipefile.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... -cake.html

This recipe (and Portillo's) is missing what I expect most: Cool Whip.

I looked around the internet to find plenty of recipes, this one is similar to what my Uncle Hank would have made and it includes the essential ingredient of Cool Whip: http://www.bakingjunkie.com/2011/01/cho ... lair-cake/

Just in case you needed a nice lady to hand hold you through the process, there is Betty demonstrating 'Faux Chocolate Eclair Cake.'



Anybody have any idea on the origins of this dessert? I have a gut feeling it has been around longer than Portillo's, though maybe someone knows how the current resurgence of interest began?

Regards,

My mother used to make this cake for potlucks. I seem to recall there was cool whip involved in her version, but I'd have to dig up the recipe. I believe she was making this in the 70's -- not sure when Portillo's started their version.

The GP wrote:My mother used to make this cake for potlucks. I seem to recall there was cool whip involved in her version, but I'd have to dig up the recipe. I believe she was making this in the 70's -- not sure when Portillo's started their version.

I used to work at Portillo's back in the day and recall Mayo in the cake

gocubsgo,

How old is that recipe? Since Portillo's began (when? answered myself: 1967) or was it introduced later on the menu (when)?

While it may be new to the woman who inquired, my feeling this cake was on the potluck circuit before it was at Portillos. What do you think?

Mary,

I am not surprised by your recollection of having it in the 70's. M Uncle made variations of this theme for family dinners during this time. My favorite was his banana split cake.

This eclair cake sounds like something from a test kitchen. Or as I learned from a test kitchen director, when there was something on the potluck circuit and they received requests. They would created a recipe to circulate.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:This eclair cake sounds like something from a test kitchen. Or as I learned from a test kitchen director, when there was something on the potluck circuit and they received requests. They would created a recipe to circulate.

Regards,

The Portillo's version of this cake is very much a product that tastes like it comes from a foodservice kitchen. The cake has the chemical-like taste I associate with the frozen Sara Lee industrial cakes sold in many institutions. Personally, I've never understood the love for the Portillo's product, although a well made version of this cake could be quite good, I imagine. I don't know about you, but when someone mentions chocolate eclair cake, I envision something more akin to a Boston Cream Pie.

The GP wrote:My mother used to make this cake for potlucks. I seem to recall there was cool whip involved in her version, but I'd have to dig up the recipe. I believe she was making this in the 70's -- not sure when Portillo's started their version.

Like The GP's mom, my great aunt used to make this in the 1970s. She lived in Silver Spring, MD and worked in DC. She was much more into her career than cooking, but always made eclaire cake and a loaf of beer bread when she visited. She topped the cake with what I would now consider a ganache and filled it with a pudding mixture if I remember correctly. Those recipes have always been referred to as Leah's so I bet she got the recipes from someone out east.

This sounds like just another version of an "icebox cake"--essentially cookies of some sort (my mom's version used chocolate wafers/Oreos and whipped cream or sometimes, Cool Whip).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebox_cake

i think there is some mix up here. the so called chocolate eclair cake or dessert actually is made with graham crackers and layered with a mixture of vanilla pudding and cool whip. bettys recipe is right on target. Its an old recipe been around along time and its really good. I think you could substitute real whipped cream for the cool whip if you wanted something higher quality. thats what i do when i make some of the recipes calling for cool whip. i was not aware this dessert was connected with portillos.

i do know portillos is famous for and makes a chocolated cake with chocolate frosting that legend says is made from a box and also has mayo in it. eclair cake is not make with mayo. cake is a misnomer as the eclair cake is not baked its more an ice box dessert. its a great dessert for a party. the graham crackers turn into a kind of faux substitute for the eclair dough. I doubt if the origin of the eclair cake was a test kitchen. there are many recipes from way back in the seventies or even before. Harvey Wallbanger cake, bacardi rum cake, banana split cake, pick picking cake, banana pudding from vanilla wafers, famous wafer cake and the like. I go back a long way and remember them all.

toria wrote:i do know portillos is famous for and makes a chocolated cake with chocolate frosting that legend says is made from a box and also has mayo in it. eclair cake is not make with mayo.

That's the "cake" I was referring to in my previous post. It absolutely tastes like it's made from a box (and I do mean the box, not the ingredients inside the box).

When I was a kid in the '70's my mom made this and another icebox dessert with pistachio pudding that are guilty pleasures of mine. I used to be a pastry chef and took great pride in using only real ingredients like butter, cream, etc and no shortcuts, but some of those childhood foods get a pass from me.

Yes some of those recipes are good if artificial. some times you can adapt them and use upgraded ingredients like real whipped cream and butter to make them better. Myself I always liked watergate cake with cover up frosting. its a pistachio pineapple concotion. Now i am really dating myself.