No-Bake Caramel Apple Éclair Cake

I like making my desserts from scratch. It must be a genetic trait that came from my grandmother, who I never once saw buy a store-bought dessert; she proudly favored her homemade desserts. Unlike my grandmother, though, I know that not everyone enjoys baking. While we like the results, the work can be tedious and isn’t often appreciated. 

That’s why I’m grateful for desserts like this caramel apple éclair cake. It’s an apple-inspired twist on the viral recipe for chocolate éclair cake. There’s no cooking required and it’s almost impossible to mess up. With a tiny bit of assembly, you can have a delicious dessert that even my grandmother would appreciate. 

There are only nine ingredients in this cake recipe, but many of them are store-bought like the apple pie filling and caramel sauce. The only labor-intensive things you’ll need to do are prepare two packages of instant vanilla pudding and whip some cream, which shouldn’t cause you too much trouble. After that, it’s all about assembly, which should take no more than five minutes!

• Make the whipped cream. You might be tempted to buy prepared whipped cream, but trust me when I say you’ll end up with a cloyingly sweet dessert. Between the canned pie filling and prepared caramel sauce, you won’t need any additional sweetener.
• Add lemon to the filling. To keep things easy, I use canned pie filling. While handy, prepared pie fillings can often be a bit sweet and one-note. Adding a bit of fresh lemon juice helps bring the filling to life and adds the perfect hit of brightness to help the apples shine.
• Salt your dessert. Salt plays a crucial role in bringing out the flavor of savory dishes, and the same holds true of desserts. Adding some salt to the filling, and then as a garnish, helps distinguish the flavors in this dish. A little bit is all you need.