Chocolate Delight + Video

This easy Chocolate Delight recipe creates a delicious layered pudding dessert that feeds a crowd. Made with a pecan shortbread crust and layers of cream cheese, chocolate pudding, and Cool Whip topped with chocolate curls for decoration.

Chocolate Delight Dessert

If you’re a fan of pie, chocolate, and cheesecake, then you’ll love the combination in this easy chocolate delight dessert with minimal baking.

This pudding dessert is a lot like jello pudding pie with a shortbread crust instead of pastry, and extra creamy layers of no-bake cheesecake and whipped topping.

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The texture is so creamy and light with a satisfying crunch from the crust. It’s not overly sweet either. You’ll be enjoying this dessert by the fork-full.

5 Layer Dessert

This chocolate delight cake is comprised of 5 layers, so it looks impressive, but is actually quite simple to make. The five layers are:

1. Pecan Shortbread Crust
2. No-Bake Cheesecake Filling
3. Chocolate and Vanilla Pudding
4. Whipped Topping
5. Chocolate Shavings

The hardest part of making this layered dessert is that it takes time for each layer to set — approximately 20 minutes for each layer. So time is the key, but that also makes it a great make-ahead dessert.

Chocolate Delight Ingredients

There are 10 ingredients needed to make chocolate delight.

• All-Purpose Flour
• Chopped Pecans
• Melted Butter
• Cream Cheese
• Powdered Sugar
• Whipped Topping
• Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
• Chocolate Instant Pudding Mix
• Milk
• Chocolate Bar, for shavings/decoration

How to Make Chocolate Delight

These step-by-step photos will help show you how to make it.

• First, combine the flour, pecans, and butter. Then press it into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes or until the crust is a light golden brown color and baked through. Chill the crust for 20 minutes in freezer.
• Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a bowl with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Then mix in 1 cup of the whipped topping.
• Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled crust. Chill in freezer for 20 minutes.
• Whisk together the cold milk with both pudding mixes until thick and smooth. Dollop, then spread the pudding evenly over the cream cheese layer. Chill in freezer for 20 minutes.
• Top the pudding layer with the remaining whipped topping. Cover the pan with foil and chill in the refrigerator for 2+ hours.

Serving and Storage

To serve, cut the chocolate delight into squares, then sprinkle chocolate shavings over the top of each piece.

NOTE: Use a vegetable peeler to make shavings from a bar of chocolate. TIP: Nuke the chocolate bar in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften it slightly to make curls.

Cover the pan with foil and store this dessert in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

How to Cut Neat Slices

If you’re going to go to all the trouble of creating a layered dessert, you want to see those beautiful layers. Here are some tips for cutting this dessert.

• Freeze the dessert for 30-45 minutes before slicing it, to help solidify each layer.
• Rinse a knife with hot water, then dry it with a towel in-between each slice, so the layers don’t run together.

NOTE: The edges of each slice photographed were smoothed with an offset spatula.

Notes and Suggestions

• Keep in mind, this crust is savory, like an all butter pie crust. If you want a sweeter crust I would add 1/3 cup of powdered sugar to the ingredients. I wish I had chopped my pecans more finely. You can also pulse the pecans with the flour in a food processor before adding the butter.
• If you don’t like whipped topping, aka Cool Whip, you can make homemade whipped cream instead. Double that recipe, as there is a separate layer of whipped cream on top as well.

More Layered Desserts

If you like this layered dessert you might also like these:

• Blueberry Lush
• Strawberry Delight
• Layered No Bake Cheesecake
• Layered Jello Jigglers
• Lemon Curd Dessert
• Apple Cheesecake Bars
• Pumpkin Delight

4.35 from 29 ratings

Chocolate Delight

Created by Amber Brady

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Chill Time 3 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Total: 4 hours hrs

Layered chocolate dessert with a pecan crust and layers of cream cheese, pudding, and whipped topping.

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YieldsYields15 servings

Ingredients

Crust:

• ▢ 1 ½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour, (stir, spoon, & level)
• ▢ 1 cup (114 g) pecans, finely chopped
• ▢ ¾ cup (170 g) butter, (12 Tbsp) melted

Cream Cheese Layer:

• ▢ 8 oz (226 g) brick cream cheese, room temperature
• ▢ 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 cup (72 g) *frozen whipped topping (Cool Whip), thawed

Pudding Layer:

• ▢ 3.4 oz (96 g) box instant vanilla pudding mix, dry
• ▢ 3.4 oz (96 g) box instant chocolate pudding mix, dry
• ▢ 3 cups (711 g) whole milk, cold

Topping:

• ▢ 16 oz (453 g) tub frozen whipped topping, (Cool Whip) thawed (*use 1 cup of this for the cream cheese layer and the remainder for the top)
• ▢ 3.5 oz (100 g) bar of chocolate, for shaving over the top (I used a Cadbury Milk Chocolate Bar)

Equipment

• 9×13-inch Pan
• Electric Hand Mixer
• 6-Quart Steel Mixing Bowl
• Silicone Whisks
• Wilton 3-Piece Icing Spatula Set

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Combine the flour, pecans, and butter. Then press it into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking pan. Bake at 325˚F for 25 minutes or until the crust is a light golden brown color and baked through. Chill the crust for 20 minutes in freezer.
• Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a bowl with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Then mix in 1 cup of the whipped topping.
• Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled crust. Chill in freezer for 20 minutes.
• Whisk together the cold milk with both pudding mixes until thick and smooth. Dollop, then spread the pudding evenly over the cream cheese layer. Chill in freezer for 20 minutes.
• Top the pudding layer with the remaining whipped topping. Cover the pan with foil and chill in the refrigerator for 2+ hours.
• To serve, cut the chocolate delight into squares, then sprinkle chocolate shavings over the top of each piece. NOTE: Use a vegetable peeler to make shavings from a bar of chocolate. TIP: Nuke the chocolate bar in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften it slightly to make curls.

Video

Notes

• Cover the pan with foil and store this dessert in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
• Use 16oz of whipped topping (aka Cool Whip) or homemade whipped cream (2x recipe; about 6.5 cups total.) Do not use the whipped cream you squirt from a can.
• TIP: Freeze the dessert for 30-45 minutes before slicing it, to help solidify each layer. Rinse a knife with hot water, then dry it with a towel in-between each slice, so the layers don’t run together.
• TO SWEETEN CRUST: Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to the crust ingredients and follow recipe as directed.

Nutrition Info.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 slice | Calories: 387kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 205mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g

Disclaimer: Nutritional values were calculated using a third-party tool and are provided as an estimation only.

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