Time Traveling Table

Before Pinterest boards and viral TikTok recipes, there were church cookbooks, Tupperware parties, and one wildly irresistible dessert quietly making the rounds at potlucks, family reunions, and every bridal shower in the American Midwest: the Robert Redford dessert.

Robert Redford, the Hollywood heartthrob of the 1970s. Someone took one bite of this rich, creamy, layered icebox cake and declared it “better than Robert Redford,” and honestly? The name stuck.

The dessert is so decadent and sugar laden, like seriously halfway making through making this I was like “MORE sugar!?” that in some circles, it got even more scandalous nicknames like “Better Than Sex Cake”, because the 1970s were wilder than they looked in those beige kitchen photos. And like Redford himself, this cake’s appeal has aged like fine wine — it’s indulgent, nostalgic, and totally iconic.

With a buttery pecan crust, tangy-sweet cream cheese layer, double pudding middle, and whipped cream on top, it’s the kind of dish that defined comfort food in the 1970s: rich, easy to assemble with store-bought shortcuts, and always the first to disappear from the buffet table.

So if you’ve ever wondered what dessert said “I’m hosting ladies’ night and I mean business” in the disco decade… this is it.

Serving a whole party (9×13-inch pan | Feeds 12–16)
Total chill prep: 1 hour 45 min

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Ingredients

The Crust:

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Layer One:

• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, softened

Layer Two:

• 1 (3.4 oz) box instant chocolate pudding
• 1 (3.4 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
• 2 cups cold whole milk

Layer Three:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ½ tsp cream of tartar (optional, see below for more info)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Cocoa powder or shaved bittersweet chocolate, for that finishing flourish

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1. The Crust

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Stir flour, pecans, sugar, and melted butter until it looks like wet sand.
• Press into a 9×13 pan. Bake for 15 minutes, and let it chill.

2. Cream Cheese Layer

• Whip ½ cup heavy cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form.
• Beat in softened cream cheese until smooth.
• Spread onto your cooled crust. Pop it in the fridge for a bit.

3. Pudding Layer

• Whisk both pudding mixes with cold milk until thickened.
• Spread evenly over the cream cheese layer.

4. Whipped Top Layer

• Whip the remaining cream with powdered sugar, vanilla, and cream of tartar until you get firm, fluffy peaks.
• Spread over the top. Sprinkle with cocoa powder or chocolate shavings. Chill until ready to serve.

What exactly is Cream of Tartar

So there I was standing in the grocery store looking at this teeny tiny bottle that I had never bought, that I felt was too expensive for what it was probably worth. Wondering “what exactly isssss this? What does this do?” Well cream of tartar is a byproduct of winemaking. Specifically, it’s potassium bitartrate, a crystalline acid that forms on the inside of wine barrels during fermentation. Once collected and purified, it becomes the white powder we use.

What Does It Do?

Cream of tartar has several key uses in cooking and baking:

1. Stabilizes whipped egg whites
   • Prevents them from deflating, giving meringues and soufflés more structure.
2. Adds volume
   • Helps egg whites whip up higher and fluffier.
3. Prevents sugar crystallization
   • In candy and frostings, it helps keep sugar smooth and syrupy rather than grainy.
4. Leavening agent (when combined with baking soda)
   • Together they make baking powder — the acid (cream of tartar) reacts with the base (baking soda) to produce carbon dioxide bubbles that make baked goods rise.