“You can eat the whole thing – except the flowers and the pot,” my 9-year-old daughter explained with a smile when we dropped off a little treat at her friend’s house. “It’s a dirt cake!” Her mom seemed to pick up on the joke right away, but my daughter’s buddy looked a little puzzled. “It’s Oreo soil,” giggled my daughter.
Her friend seemed confused still, “I can eat this?”
“Yup,” answered my daughter. That’s right: We’ve been doing a little planting around my house. With the warmer temperatures – and a little April Foolery in the air – we decided to make some dirt cakes to give to my kids’ friends. Dirt cakes are fun and easy to either make with your kids – or to create to play a joke on your kids. This time, I let my kids in on the silliness. When I explained to my crew that we were going to put together dirt cakes, they weren’t sure what to make of it – until my 9-year-old spotted the Oreos. She didn’t care what we were making as long as Oreos were involved!
Making dirt cakes is easy. Pick up a new planting pot at the hardware store, cut up pieces of chocolate cake to place in the bottom, add a layer of chocolate pudding, and then insert either fresh (stems wrapped in tin foil) or artificial flowers into the center of the pot. Then sprinkle ground-up Oreos (the “dirt”) and gummy worms at the top of the pot.
This time, we chose individual servings. But if you really want to baffle your kids, buy a large potting plant and add your cake ingredients to create a centerpiece for your kitchen table. Then, once you’ve eaten your dinner explain to the kids that you’re still really hungry. You can then start taking nibbles at the planting soil and dare your kids to join you. Older kids might already guess your rouse, but younger ones will be amazed that mom is a dirt eater.
Prolong the April 1 foolery – or maybe the Easter Bunny will leave your kids a special plant? We had so much fun putting these cakes together my kids are already asking when we’re going to do it again. They’re good to the last cookie-soil crumb!
