Dirt Cake

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

5 Comments

5 from 1 vote
16 Servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Freeze 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
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Dirt Cake is an amazing, creamy no-bake pudding cake with Oreo crumbs and gummy worms decorating it for a fun, kid-friendly treat!

This Cake Recipe is the perfect easy no-bake dessert. Unlike Classic Vanilla Cake, it’s made with a rich vanilla pudding and cream cheese mixture for its velvety base.

serving of Dirt Cake on yellow plate

DIRT CAKE

This simple Dirt Cake Recipe is the perfect party dish that’s a guaranteed hit with adults and children alike. The delicious dessert is made with an instant pudding base. Then it’s made more thick and rich with cream cheese and heavy cream. That creamy pudding is sandwiched between two layers of crushed Oreos.

The Oreo crumbs on top look like dark dirt, which is where it gets the name Dirt Cake. Then the gummy worms are added to go along with the dirt theme. 

The simple ingredients and easy to follow directions make this Dirt Cake recipe the perfect potluck treat. It’s made in a big batch that’s perfect to share at a party, and easy to transport in a regular cake pan.

Dirt Cake Oreo crumbs in baking dish with ice cream base in bowl

For a delicious addition, you can serve the dirt pudding with Homemade Cool Whip on the side. The dirt pudding will pair great with the easy, fluffy topping. But, it’s better to keep it on the side than put it directly on the cake. That way people can still see the “dirt” and “worms.”

You can also add more decorations to go along with the gummy worms. More gummy critters or plastic spiders will look great on the coarse crumbs and make it the ultimate no-bake dessert for Halloween. 

MORE CAKE RECIPES

TIPS FOR MAKING DIRT CAKE

  • Instant Vanilla Pudding: To make the French vanilla pudding add the instant pudding mix and milk to a large bowl. Whisk until the French vanilla pudding powder is combined with the liquid. Let the bowl sit for 5 minutes to thicken. 
  • Cream cheese mixture: Add the heavy cream to your stand mixer and whisk at high speed. Continue mixing until soft peaks begin to form. Break a package of cream cheese into small pieces. Add in chunks of cream cheese and continue mixing until the lumps are stirred out. It’ll take about 1 minute. Add in the pudding mixture, and continue mixing at the lowest speed until well combined. 
  • Oreos: To crush Oreos add them to the food processor and pulse, or seal them in a plastic bag to break them apart with a rolling pin. Add half the crushed Oreos to the bottom of the baking dish. 
  • Assemble: Pour the pudding over the crumbs and use an offset spatula to spread it out in an even layer. Then top it with a layer of Oreos. 
  • Chill: Refrigerate the Dirt Cake for a full hour before topping with gummy worms and serving.

top-down view of Dirt Cake in baking dish

VARIATIONS ON DIRT CAKE

  • Oreos: You can change up the original recipe by using different kinds of Oreos. Mint, double chocolate, red velvet, or Halloween Oreos would all be fun ways to mix things up. 
  • Chocolate pudding: Instead of vanilla pudding you can make chocolate pudding for the recipe. Use instant chocolate pudding and combine it with the milk, just like you would with the vanilla pudding. 
  • Trifle bowl: Instead of pouring all the pudding into a flat pan, you can use a glass trifle bowl. That way you can do multiple layers of alternating Oreo crumbs and pudding. The glass dish will make it so you can see each layer of creamy pudding.
  • Dirt cupcakes: Instead of pouring the dirt pudding into a cake pan, you can line a muffin tin and divide the Oreo crumbs and pudding evenly into each cup. Refrigerate for 1 hour and enjoy the mini dirt cakes. 

MORE NO-BAKE DESSERTS

HOW TO STORE DIRT CAKE

  • Serve: Make sure to chill the Dirt Cake recipe for at least 1 hour before you serve them. Don’t leave the pudding based cake at room temperature for more than an hour or two. 
  • Store: If you have leftover cake cover it in plastic wrap or aluminum foil to store in the fridge. It’ll be good in the fridge for 3-4 days. 
  • Freeze: You can also cover the cake to store in the freezer for 4-6 weeks.

cross-section of Dirt Cake in baking dish

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Dinner, then Dessert

Dirt Cake

Dirt Cake is an amazing, creamy no-bake pudding cake with Oreo crumbs and gummy worms decorating it for a fun, kid-friendly treat!
Yield 16 Servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
serving of Dirt Cake on yellow plate
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 3.4 ounces vanilla pudding mix
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 8 ounces cream cheese , softened and cut into cubes
  • 26 Oreo Cookies , crushed
  • 10 ounces gummy worms

Instructions

  • Add vanilla pudding mix and milk to a large bowl and whisk until well combined.
  • Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
  • Add heavy cream to your stand mixer on high speed until it reaches a soft peak stage (the tip of the whisk balloon just falls over).
  • Add in the cream cheese chunks and mix on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute.
  • Add in the pudding on the lowest speed setting until well combined.
  • Add half the Oreo Cookie crumbs to the bottom of the baking dish.
  • Pour the pudding mixture over the top of the crumbs evenly.
  • Top with remaining Oreo Cookie crumbs and refrigerate or freeze for 1 hour.
  • Top with gummy worms before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 269kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 220mg | Potassium: 128mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 346IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 2mg

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Dirt Cake collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I was looking for a dessert for Halloween and I think this is it! I do love a “dirt cake” and this would be the next step up! Thanks!

    Reply