Recipe Friday: Dirt Cake

Yesterday I had my 8 year old niece over and I wanted us to do something besides sit around in the air conditioned house watching movies.  I don’t live far from a lake, so we decided to take a nature walk. The nature walk turned into a fun filled day of collecting pine cones, feeding the ducks, and a little fishing.

A very sweet older couple were fishing on the docks and my niece Catie instantly took a major interest. After about 15 minutes and Catie “trying” to help by pointing out fish bubbles, the man handed over an extra poll and told her to catch herself a big fish.

About 10 minutes later we hear a loud squeal and I soon help Catie reel in very first fish. Of course, it was a baby but I know years from now the fish story is going to grow and we will be hearing about the 12 inch fish that was caught and let go.

All the way home, she mentioned going fishing next week with her Opa and how they were going to be catching lots of fish together. I told her that part of fishing meant putting the worms on the hook and taking the fish off the line. One look into my eyes told her that as a child I was able to get my dad (her Opa) to not only put the worm on the hook, but also take the fish off. We agreed that worms and fish were just plain slimy! The only worms we were willing to touch are the gummy kind.

In honor of Catie’s first time catching a fish, this week’s recipe is for Dirt Cake. Which uses our favorite kind of worms.

Dirt Cake

Ingredients

1 (20 ounce) package chocolate sandwich cookies with creme filling

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 (3.9 ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding mix

3 cups milk

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

15 gummy worms

Directions

• Put the cookies in a food processor and process until they become fine crumbs. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the butter or margarine, cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla flavoring. Beat on low speed to mix then beat on medium speed until smooth. Add the chocolate pudding mix and milk to the bowl. Beat on low speed to combine.
• Fold the whipped topping into the pudding mixture with a rubber spatula.
• Assemble in the ungreased 9x13 inch pan in layers as follows: first layer, 1/3 cookie crumbs; second layer, 1/2 pudding mixture; third layer, 1/3 cookie crumbs; fifth layer, 1/3 cookie crumbs.
• Tuck the ends of gummy worms in the cookie "dirt". Be sure to have a worm on each piece. Store in the refrigerator. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving. Cut into 15 squares, or serve with a clean garden trowel or a toy sand shovel if serving in the flower pot.

Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend.

Creativity Bug ~ Sue