When I asked my friend Kristan if she had a recipe for Chocolate Lush, she laughed. “Yes,” she said, “but I don’t call it that. I call it Robert Redford.” When I described this dessert to my sister, she said, “Oh, I’ve had that before, but it was called Tom Brady.” The little teenage girls I served it to giggled when I told them it’s many names; they decided to call it One Direction. My friend Sandi refers to it as George Michael, and I think Channing Tatum is a particularly tasty name for this delicious dessert! It has layers of buttery pecan shortbread, tangy sweetened cream cheese, rich chocolate pudding, and fluffy Cool Whip–and by any name, it is scrumptious!
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup chopped pecans
1 8-oz brick cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 16-oz tub Cool Whip
1 large box instant vanilla pudding
1 large box instant chocolate pudding
3 cups milk
1 milk chocolate candy bar for topping
Preheat the oven to 350Ā°F. Beat flour, butter, and pecans until crumbly. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9×13″ pan, and bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. When crust is cool, beat cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Gently fold in half of the Cool Whip. Spread this mixture over the cooled crust. In a large bowl, combine both boxes of pudding with the milk, beating until smooth and thick, about 3 minutes. Spread this mixture over the cream cheese layer. Top with remaining Cool Whip. Chill for 2-3 hours before serving. Top with grated chocolate bar pieces just before serving. Makes 12+ servings.
I think my 82-year-old grandma calls this “better than sex cake” (though it’s definitely not cake), and she made sure to tell my in-laws that name the first time they met her.
It is definitely tasty, though.
Hey Carlee! I have a different cake that we call Better Than Sex Cake, but I’ve heard this Chocolate Lush called that before too.
I have been looking for this recipe for a couple of years now…thank you, thank you, thank you. FYI my Mom used to make this for any celebration/party. She also changed up the pudding flavor depending on the season. This is incredible with any flavor, but chocolate and pistachio were always my favorite.
I’ll have to try it with different flavors–I bet it’s dreamy either way! I’ve heard of Lemon Lush; I might try that next!
Oh wow yum, this looks amazing!
Thanks, blueberrykitchen!
How funny, my mom makes a BTS (better than sex) cake, but it’s more like chocolate cake with chocolate chips in it. I love that your group of tweens calls it One Direction! My mom would call it “Richard Gere” and my sister would call it “Daniel Henney.” I’d call it “Paul Rudd”, myself. š
I love hearing what everyone would call it!! I’ve never, ever liked Richard Gere, but Paul Rudd and Daniel Henney are both babes!
Ha! I don’t like Richard Gere either. Maybe it’s a generational thing.
Wow, that looks like it will be amazing.
Thanks, Stefanie! It really is so good!
Oh thank heaven for finding this recipe. I used to eat it at church suppers as a kid and we didn’t know the name of it. Can’t wait to have this sitting out on Thanksgiving as a surprise treat.