Growing up, my mother always made special cakes for my birthday — cakes so good-looking that I’m sure all of my friends wished they had a mother like mine. Usually this involved copious amounts of painstakingly applied frosting, and, if I was really lucky, some decorative sugar cubes. But my 7th birthday party was a little bit different.
The afternoon was probably planned out down to the minute with games and face painting and so on, but all I really remember is the cake. When everyone gathered around the table and sang “Happy Birthday,” drool already forming at the corners of their sugar-starved mouths, my mother came out of the kitchen empty-handed and seized the flower pot at the center of the table.
I don’t know how she was able to point a camera and serve cake at the same time, but somehow, somewhere in my family’s photo albums, there is photographic evidence of a half dozen 7-year-olds looking simultaneously horrified and mesmerized as she used a gardening spade to spoon slimy dirt into cups and passed them around the table. Thusly we were introduced to the delicious, unabashedly American splendor that is dirt cake.
I don’t know whose twisted idea it was to prank a roomful of innocent and trusting 7-year-olds, but in retrospect, maybe it was that party that cemented my lifelong love of a good prank. Granted, had I had it my way, someone probably would’ve ended up crying before I let on that it was just a joke … so maybe it was good that my mother chose a more toned down route. Anyway, as you can imagine, this cake concept translates well into Halloween — just use gravestones instead of fake flowers, and you’ve got a graveyard! Excellent.
I follow the same recipe my mother did, but use vegan ingredients instead. A few notes on the cream mixture. If you aren’t making your pudding from scratch, double-check that the store-bought stuff you find is vegan. Mimiccreme’s boxed “Healthy Top” holds up awesomely in this, but I used canned soy whipped cream once to no ill effect (other than to my wallet. Oof!).
Decorate this however you see fit — use frosting to decorate cookie tombstones, bury small toy people and plastic (or candy) body parts, make ghosts out of vegan marshmallows, or have a slimy green hand clawing its way through the dirt.
- 3.5 cups vegan vanilla pudding
- 1 c powdered sugar
- ¼ c vegan margarine
- 8 oz. vegan cream cheese
- 1 package chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies
- 8 oz. vegan whipped cream
- 5 oz vegan gummy worms
- gravestone-shaped cookies or other creepy decorative items, optional
- Prepare pudding as directed; chill until cold and fully set.
- Cream the powdered sugar, margarine and cream cheese.
- Fold in pudding and whipped cream.
- Fold in gummy worms.
- In a food processor, pulse cookies into crumbs.
- In bottom of a clean flower pot or clear bowl, alternately layer pudding mixture and crumbs, starting and ending with crumbs.
- Decorate as desired.
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14 comments
Candy Beans says:
Oct 26, 2012
I haven’t had one of these in ages! I really want to try this. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
claryn says:
Oct 26, 2012
Yes! Glad to meet someone else who’s eaten one of these. Any time!
Jojo says:
Oct 26, 2012
This is SO awesome!
claryn says:
Oct 26, 2012
Thanks, Jojo 😉
kittee says:
Oct 26, 2012
Your dirt cake is so cute!
claryn says:
Oct 26, 2012
Haha, I am unfortunately not as talented at sugar-based decoration as you are, Kittee! Or at least, maybe my talent does not lie with making things like this look appropriately gnarly. I’m workin’ on it, I swear!
Kelly Garbato says:
Oct 26, 2012
This is great! My mom went all out on birthday cakes too. One year, she mad an especially awesome Raggedy Ann cake. She hid it in the bedroom, on the top bunk, and somehow my cousin got in there and sat on it. I can laugh now, 25+ years later.
Definitely going to try this for Halloween!
claryn says:
Oct 26, 2012
Hahaha, that is the WORST! I would’ve been bitter and grumpy about that for years.
Let me know how yours turns out 🙂
It’s My Special Day Round-up | VeganMoFo says:
Oct 28, 2012
[…] seen plenty of dirt cakes, but I like the easy Halloween […]
chow vegan says:
Oct 30, 2012
That looks awesome! Such a cute childhood memory. I’ve never tried dirt cake before but it looks really fun to make. 🙂
Eat to the Beat: The Best of Vegan MoFo & Survivor » V for Vegan: easyVegan.info says:
Nov 1, 2012
[…] your kids with Dirt Cake! I don’t have kids, but this one’s still going on the to-do […]
Aurora says:
Oct 28, 2016
This vegan dirt cake is FANTASTIC. I make it every year for Halloween! Thank you for the recipe!
Dominique says:
Jul 23, 2017
OMG good is what this is. Just did this for my kids birthday. Everyone enjoyed it, even the vegan cynics. Thank you for helping me include all at a bday party.
Jennifer says:
Aug 22, 2018
Hi! I realize I am way late to this party, but it’s August a/k/a almost Halloween and I want to make this soon 🙂 Has anyone had luck finding a good vegan vanilla pudding (or any vegan pudding for that matter)? I bought some chocolate pudding mix from Whole Foods and it was no bueno. I used soy milk to mix it. Any help is appreciated! P.S. Love your site and have been cooking from it since I was a baby vegan 6 years ago <3