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Smooth + rich Cream Puff Cake is a take on the popular cream puff dessert. Drizzle it in chocolate for a perfect bite!
If you love desserts like Cream Puffs and Eclairs, then you’ll love this cake version. Cream Puff Cake is like one giant cream puff in cake form!
Cream Puff DESSERT
This Cream Puff Cake is an ALL-TIME favorite dessert!!
I have my mom make it for my birthday each year, because it’s my favorite, and I’ll tell you why I LOVE it so much. It’s because it’s like a GIANT Cream Puff, and I LOVE Cream Puffs!!
If you like them too, then I promise you will love this Cream Puff Cake Recipe. It’s the perfect combination of crust, cream, and pudding, and I think I could eat it all day long.
How to Make Cream Puff Cake
This Cream Puff dessert is easier to make than you’d think. The crust is the hardest part and that’s not very hard either – it just takes getting used to.
PREP. Prepare a 9×13 ceramic or glass baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
CRUST. Boil the margarine and water in a medium saucepan. Add flour and mix well. Remove from heat and add eggs – ONE AT A TIME (this is important). Mix well and spread the dough into a greased 9×13 dish.
Bake the crust at 400° for 30 minutes. The crust will puff up the sides, which is what you want. Let cool.
FILLING. In a large bowl, mix pudding, milk, and cream cheese. beat until lumps disappear. Pour the pudding mixture into the cream puff crust. Top with Whipped Cream and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Before serving, drizzle with chocolate syrup. We love to drizzle it with our homemade Chocolate Fudge Sauce. You can also top it with a chocolate ganache or sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top.
RECIPE Tips
Pudding. Use INSTANT vanilla pudding or white chocolate, or it won’t set. Only use the pudding powder. Do not make it into pudding.
Room temperature ingredients. The butter, cream cheese, and eggs all need to be at room temperature so that they mix together smoothly.
Pastry. Cool the pastry crust completely before adding the filling or the cream will melt and not set. A hot shell will also get soggy more quickly.
Toppings. Add berries to the top of the slices of cake. Use the homemade Chocolate Fudge Sauce to create a pretty design on the top of the cake.
Homemade Whipped Cream
Make your own Whipped Cream using 2 cups heavy whipping cream, 4 tablespoons powdered sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla.
- Chill your metal mixing bowl then add heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla to the bowl.
- Use an electric mixer and whip on low speed then increase to medium-high. Mix until soft peaks form.
Use Cool Whip instead of Whipped Cream. Cool Whip is an easy substitute for whipped cream. Make whatever is best for you and be sure to still have some homemade Chocolate Fudge Sauce on hand to drizzle over it – you won’t regret it!
Storing Info
Make ahead of time. Up until you add the Whipped Cream, this can be covered and placed in the fridge up to 24 hours in advance. If you don’t want to mess up the whipped cream with Saran Wrap, just leave that off until right before serving.
STORE. Covered and stored in the fridge, this Cream Puff Cake can last up to 5 days. Keep it refrigerated when not being eaten because the dairy products need to stay cool.
For more Cake recipes:
More Collections: New Years Eve Desserts,
Cream Puff Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 2 (3.4-ounce) boxes instant vanilla or white chocolate pudding
- 3 cups milk
- 1 (8-ounce) tub whipped topping, or 2 cups whipped cream
- chocolate syrup or white chocolate curls
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Combine butter and water in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce the heat to low, add flour and stir until mixture forms a ball. Remove from the heat.
- Cool dough slightly, then beat in eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition. After adding the last egg, the dough will come together and will be smooth. Spread into a greased 9×13-inch baking ish.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then cool completely. (NOTE: The dough should rise up the sides of the dish during baking).
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk pudding mix and milk together until smooth. Add whipped cream cheese and beat until combined and smooth. Pour into the crust.
- Spread whipped cream on top of pudding and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.
- Serve drizzled with chocolate syrup or topped with white chocolate curls.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this once a few years back, but lost the recipe. Everybody raved about it. Thank you for sharing it.
I hate when that happens! Glad you found this! Happy to share 🙂
Where is the recipe?
There is a recipe card if you scroll down in the post 🙂 Hope you give it a try!
Not great. Crust was tough and too much pudding to cream cheese ratio.
Not being in the US myself, I was wondering how much a large box of instant vanilla pudding weighs? Also, do you let the milk warm to room temperature before use as well?
5.1 oz for the large box and 3 point something for the smaller package. I am sorry I don’t know the metric conversions. Hope that is helpful anyway.
It is, thanks!
Oh my goodness! I made this for a dinner party today, and it was a huge hit! Honestly, I was skeptical about the crust but it came out perfect! Thank you for sharing! Definitely will be a repeat!
Yay!! Love hearing that! Thank you!
Made it. Love it!
This is my absolute go to dessert that my family always wants.
My mom used to make this. It’s so good. Can’t wait to try it again. Thanks