Flowerpot Dirt Cake

One way to create a little fun when you’ve got younger kids coming over is to make flowerpot dirt cake. You may have had or seen flowerpot dirt cake before—a creamy pudding cake inside a flower pot, topped with crushed chocolate cookies and decorated with gummy worms. Well, I made one of those dirt cakes for tonight’s dinner. We had three families over, with several small children. I thought it would be a dessert the kids would really like.

Besides the gummy worm-decorated cake, I also made two “more realistic” dirt cakes in flower pots. One of these had a silk fern in it, which looked very realistic for a fake plant. I kept that in the fridge. In another pot, I put an actual plant in it. I kept that cake “pot” in the fridge too, and right before company arrived, I stuck a small houseplant in the pot (I wrapped plastic wrap around the plant’s roots, before sticking it into the dirt cake, so no real soil mixed in with the cake). Then we sat the two “realistic” dirt cakes on the coffee table right before company arrived.

We were all sitting around the coffee table, eating appetizers while the main dinner finished cooking. The fun for the adults was watching the kids as my husband asked them, “Hey, do you dare me to eat this dirt?!!” There’s always giggles and gasps as the children watch my husband eat “dirt.” We have done this several times over the years, and it’s always fun to watch the reactions of the kids.

It’s also a very tasty cake too—and easy to prepare. Many of our guests tonight had seconds on dessert—and it wasn’t just the kiddos.

Next time you invite families with young children coming over, why not serve them some dirt too?!! It’s sure to add to the evening!

Flowerpot Dirt Cake

1 pkg. Oreos
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese
4 T. butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 pkgs. (3.4 oz. each) instant vanilla pudding mix
3 ½ cup cold milk
1 8-oz. carton Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed

Take white filling out of inside of Oreos, and then crush the dark chocolate cookies until fine in a food processor. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and sugar until smooth. In another bowl, mix pudding and milk with a whisk until well blended and thickened; fold this into cream cheese mixture. Fold in whipped topping. Line flower pot with plastic wrap. Alternate layers of crumbs and pudding, ending with crumbs. Chill until serving. Decorate with plastic or silk plants and gummy worms.