Dirt Cake and Dinosaur Dig Site Cake

Dirt Cake

From the kitchen of Sue Johnson, Bloomfield, New Mexico

Ingredients
• 1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 3-oz. pkgs. instant vanilla pudding
• 1 lb. Oreo cookies, crushed
• 1 8-oz. container Cool Whip
• Gummy worms (optional)

Instructions
1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together cream cheese, sugar and pudding.
2. Fold crushed cookies into Cool Whip container.
3. Layer mixture in a clean plastic sand pail, starting and ending with cookies.
4. Serve with plastic shovel. For added fun, put gummy worms in here and there as you layer. If you prefer, use a large glass bowl to layer "cake" in, and arrange worms so they can be seen.

Dinosaur Dig Site Cake


The perfect choice for a kid obsessed with all things Jurassic, this dino-mite cake features chocolate graham cracker dirt and sugar cookie bones. This recipe was inspired by a Great Cake Contest entry from Pamela M. Of Cumberland, RI.
Ingredients
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough (from a 16.5-ounce package)
• Bones template
• Parchment paper
• 16 chocolate graham crackers (2 sleeves)
• 1 large ziplock bag
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate frosting
• 1 9- by 13-inch cake

Instructions
1. First make the dinosaur bones. Heat the oven to 350º, then knead the flour into the cookie dough until the dough is smooth. Roll it out to a 1/4-inch thickness. Use a small paring knife and our template pieces to cut bone shapes out of the dough. Transfer the shapes to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake until the cookies are golden brown around the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely.
2. Using a rolling pin, crush eight of the graham crackers in the ziplock bag. Snap the remaining eight graham crackers into pieces that are about 1-inch square.
3. Frost the cake. Arrange the graham cracker pieces around the top edge. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the crumbs and sprinkle the rest on the top and sides of the cake. Pat crumbs onto the sides to cover any bare spots.
4. Arrange the bones on the cake as shown. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs lightly over the top. Serves 12 to 14.