How to make a dirt cake?

Dark brown sugar makes great sand/dirt. You can do any cake you want, put the tractor on top with the dirt around it... have fun!

My MIL made a John Deer cake using a chocolate sheet cake with John Deer Green(color gel)buttercream frosting. She dragged the sides with a frosting comb from the bottom to the top and it resembled grass. She used ground oreos (white cream and all) and sprinkled it all on top and put a little die cast John Deer Tractor in the center. It was really cute. As for decoration...Green tablecloth with yellow plates/napkins/forks, Green & yellow balloons, you could even use his present as decoration!

I made a dirt cake for a Halloween party a few years ago. I used a box chocolate cake mix, and added gummy worms to it before baking. I topped it with frosting and crushed Oreos and then a few gummy worms for the top. It came out great!

On the backs of certain boxes of cake mix, they have recipes for things like cake in ice cream cones and other fun ideas. My thought is, get a chocolate or devils food cake in a cone or even a waffle bowl, crumbled up with gummy worms in them, or even the pull apart twizzlers for worms. Sorry I don't have a recipe for you, hope my suggestion helps anyway. Good luck.

I did something similar for my son when he was that age. I made brownies, cut them up small for small fingers, and put them in the back of one of the bigger toy John Deere trucks and used it as a centerpiece for the party. This looked like dirt in the back of the truck. Of course the toy was also to be a gift for my son. Good luck.

I would make a regular cake with chocolate icing and use ground-up oreo cookies (remove the vanilla in the middle of course) and you can also use the dark brown sugar as dirt and then place a mininature John Deere truck on the cake. That way you could still write Happy Birthday and/or his name in Green and Yellow on the cake and you don't have to refrigerate it. I used the brown sugar as sand on a beach cake once for my daughter and the kids loved it but didn't know if they could eat it or if it was "real sand"!

Dear A.,

Here is a recipe I found on the net that seems like one I've had before from someone else. Real cute if you serve in an big unpainted flower pot with artificial flower stuck in it with a spade.

OREO COOKIE CAKE (DIRT CAKE)

1 (16 oz.) pkg. Oreo cookies
2 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
2 (8 oz.) pkg. whipped topping
1 c. confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 pkg. chocolate pudding
2 c. milk

Crush Oreos very fine. Spread 1/2 Oreos on bottom of pan or flower pot and pour butter over Oreos. Let chill in refrigerator for 1 hour. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar to 1 box of whipped topping until smooth. Prepare pudding as directed on package. Spread cream cheese mixture over cookies, then layer chocolate pudding and other container of whipped topping. Sprinkle remaining Oreos on top. If you use flower pot you can make more layers and stick an artificial flower in for a surprise.

if you are making it your self use crushed up oreos as dirt but sams in conroe makes a great dirt cake you buy the little tractors and take them in to them and they can make like dirt mounds and it is all eatable except the tractors of course and it is a really good cake good luck

Our friend made her dad who likes to garden, a chocolate cake, decorated it with chocolate icing and used a little of the icing to make a "dirt mound", then put a small toy tracker on top of the cake making it look as if it was pushing the "dirt".

what a cute idea! I have heard of a friend of mine making a mud cake in which she baked the cake, then crumbled it & mixed it with the icing. Since you'll be outside in June, when the icing melts a bit, it will look even more like mud! =o) You could get really creative about what to put it in- she used a dump truck for her son b/c he was into construction equipment. Then use one of those little plastic shovels to serve.

There's a website a friend told me about which has lots of cute b-day decorations fairly inexpensive & very creative! You can buy a full party kit, or piece it out like we did for my son's party. We got things like plates, forks, cups, etc from Party City. They even have John Deere stuff there: www.birthdayexpress.com

Have fun! And remember... the first b-day party is really more for the family anyway. As much as our son loved being around everyone, it was a lot of excitement for him for one day.

Just make a regular chocolate cake, frost it with chocolate or fudge frosting and sprinkle it with ground up oreo cookies, or some other chocolate cookie. Use green frosting to pipe grass around the sides. Decorate with gummy worms, and you might even be able to find gummy bugs. I know they sell candy 'rocks' but I cant remember where I saw them...you might be able to find them online.

My son loves monster trucks, so this year I made a bundt cake, iced it by warming the icing and pouring it over the cake then I covered it with crushed oreos and topped it with hotwheels type monster trucks. It was a hit.

Party ideas: Maybe edible cake image or cake topper

http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=john+deere+cake+toppers&...

Some more fun ideas...

http://www.celebrateexpress.com/John-Deere-Tractor-Stand-...

https://www.rungreen.com/John-Deere-Party-Supplies_c_23.h...

http://www.1stwishes.com/John-Deere-1st-Birthday-Party-Su...

For my sons 1st birthday the theme was "I dig being 1". We bought plates and napkins etc from oriental trading. They aren't john deer but thats where I got the idea from.

How about mud cake? i made little cake balls for christmas and they were a hit!! i'm sure you could do the same for a cake. it is super easy!!

make a regular cake and crumble it up real good(unless you want some 'rocks' in it) take some frosting and mix the whole container into the crumble mixture. mix real good and throw into some kind of mold. invert it, throw a little tractor truck on it and you have mud cake that doesn't have to be kept cold. i hope this works for you!!

Make a regular cake, frost it with chocolate frosting, then crumble graham crackers on it to look like brown dirt. if you like the darker "dirt" look use chocolate graham crackers.
We did this with gummy worms and made a great Halloween cake. I frosted ours with peanut butter, but this may not be a good idea for one year olds (allergies).
Have fun!

For my son's 3rd birthday, we had a construction theme. I didn't like the typical dirt cake ingredients, so we just made a 13X9 chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Then we scooped it up with a spoon and sloppily piled into the bed of a clean, new, toy Tonka dump truck. It looked sooooo cute & a lot more like dirt anyway. We just used a little plastic shovel to serve it up on plates with ice cream. You could use whatever brown cake you like best...it doesn't even have to be chocolate. A german chocolate would be good, a cinnamon cake...anything. Then just pile it into something "Tractor-ish." I found a couple of things on one website, but they are each about $25. Depends on what you want to spend. But a mini John Deere wagon or wheel barrow...aaawwwww....

http://www.truelegends.com/images/jd2.jpg

You could probably do a search on one of those & find them cheaper. Or check ebay. Anyway...good luck. First birthdays are so much fun!!!

C.

You could make a regular cake, put a thin layer of icing on it, then break up a (baked) chocolate cake on top to make it look like dirt. If you add a little chocolate pudding to the chocolate crumbles, it will stay together better and still taste delicious! Then just throw on a few John Deere toys and little animals on top, and you'll be good to go. Hope this helps and good luck :)

I would make a regular cake and icing then crumble cookies on the top to make the dirt. You could make a 2 layer cake and put crumbs all around to make a dirt "mountain." Hope that helps...have fun!

My grandson's theme for his 1st birthday party was construction. We made a cake that looked like a construction site. We even found some candy at a specialty store that looks like real rocks and boulders and placed toy vehicles on it. We had our party outside in the middle of August and didn't have any trouble with the cake or icing. If you would like to see a picture you can email me. ____@____.com

We did a Motocross party for our son last year and for the cake I made cupcakes to make it more bumpy. After putting on the frosting I aranged them into a jump for the motorcycle topper. I Crushed up oreo cookies for the "dirt" on top. It turned out pretty cute and looked like dirt.
Best of Luck

I suggest taking the regular cake with icing and crumbling oreo cookies all over to look like dirt. I think you will be safe with the dirt cake outside. If your still consirned put them in indivdual pots ( small terricata pots) using plastic wrap or foil to line them and add some worms. You can put the pots into a deep pan and put ice around the pots. That should keep them cool. The pots are absorbant so they will retain some water. you could also refridgerate the pots and they will hold some of the cool for a bit. I would try one pot before freezing them as they might crack.

I would buy a chocolate cake mix and a white frosting. I would bake the cake as directed and let it cool. Once it is completely cool I would take a rectangle baking pan and crumble the cake into it. Then I would take the frosting and melt it in the microwave and drizle it over the crumbles. Get some small tractors and place around and you have an cake that looks like the tractors have been digging in the dirt. Plus your one year old will have tons of fun eating what will already be a messy cake.

Good Luck...

Bake a normal cake or have a grocery store do one. Ask them for the icing in a container.. take it home and spread it over most of the cake, but have a tractor or tractors digging into the cake, You could crush chocolate cookies or Oreos into piles of dirt all around the top. Call different Party supply places, I am sure I have seen John Deer decorations somewhere.. Or look online..

A sand box is a must as a play area. Or a pile of dirt delivered, let the kids crawl through it or dig in it just have the parents prepared for a messy time or be willing to let them "bathe" in swimming pools at the end.. My daughter would have loved this...

Hi A.,
What a cute idea! Of course depending on what you want to spend on decorating, Michaels and Hobby Lobby have lots of great stuff for cakes. As far as a dirt cake - if you don't mind the chocolate, you could ice the cake and then sprinkle crumbled chocolate cookies or brownies on top for the dirt look...maybe pick up a little tractor to go on top and trees / plants for a garden. The only "boy" cake I ever had the honor of making (I have ALL girls!) was for one of my friend's son - I made a deer hunting cake...turned out very cute! Happy birthday to your son, the first birthday is always so much fun!

If you have the party at your house and have a riding lawnmower one activity could be dad or grandpa taking the kids for a ride. My nephew went to a party that had this and the kids loved it.

What about corn stocks or scare crows to stick in the ground. You could make cupcakes with gummy worms on the top. Why not go to the dollar store and buy little pots and packs of seeds for the kids to plant their own veggies or flowers? Hope this helps!

I made dirt cake at Sunday School last week. It does take alot of ingredients that have to stay cold but, you could make it ahead of time and freeze the whole thing. I bet it would stay cold enough at the park and be thawed by the time you were ready to eat it.

You can make a regular cake and frost it. Then simply crush the oreo's or put them in a blender and put it over the frosting. You can also buy vanilla frosting and dye it greeen and frost the sides green and put a little John Deere on the cake with the candles.

my recipe is different.
for a large crowd use chocolate ready made chocolate pudding gallon, chocolate sandwich cookies, and cool whip, you can add gummy worms between the layers and on top.
crush cookies put on the bottom of container
add layer of pudding, and mix small amount to cool whip and add that on top, gummy worms. Start over cookies, pudding, cool whip with chocolate.
Top off with cookie crumbs, and make some worms crawl out of the dirt so they can be seen.
Easy fast and kids love the worms.
For adults you can put this into a plastic flower pot with some silk flowers on the table and when time for desert take out the flowers.
Have fun

Hi A.,
I see you are in New Mexico, so I've added brown sugar to my suggestions for dirt cake. I made a similar dish for a church picnic and the kids went nuts. Serve it in a clear bowl (trifle bowl) to see all the layers. Mine was indoors so I used a pudding as one layer, but you could eliminate that if it will be too warm.
Chocolate cake-1 layer, butter cake-1 layer, brown sugar(sand), nuts(rocks), Oreo's crushed small, but not too fine, gummy worms. Crumble half of one layer of choc, then half layer of yellow, some brown sugar especially around the edges so it can be seen, then crushed oreos. Place some worms in the center and especially around the edges where they can be seen through the glass. Repeat layers. Remember no layers of dirt are even so don't try to be too exact. Have extra worms on hand for the kid who didn't get one in his serving. Serve with a new colored plastic garden trowel from the kids department. Dig in!
Stack the remaining layer of choc and yellow cake, and ice like a regular cake for guests who don't want to eat "dirt". (Most adults at the church picnic wouldn't even try it. It looked "gross" with worms.) Hilarious!
C.

I don't have a suggestion for a dirt cake, but I do about the tractor. What kind of tractor are you looking in to getting him?

We got our boy a tricycle for his 1st birthday, but he didn't master the wheels until he was almost 2, a little bigger, and more coordinated.

At 2 1/2 for Christmas we got him the electric John Deer tractor, the smaller one made for 1 person to ride on with the little attachable trailer. It said it was for ages 2-6. We had to walk along beside him to steer it for a long time afterward, which was a little frustrating. He got upset because he couldn't control it and we got upset because it was so tedious for us (not what we had envisioned).

Once he hit age 3 he was more able to steer and use the "gas" peddle at the same time. He really enjoyed it more. At 3 he also got a Harley Davidson ride-on. This was bigger could go faster. It took a little getting used to.

We lost both of them in the flood from Ike. My son was 6 years and 4 months at the time and still played with both (even though he was a little big for the tractor).

What I am saying is don't go out and get him a toy that is really too big for him. He won't be able to use it right away and you will feel as if you have wasted money on it. The age recommendations on things are really true, they're based on child development.

Wow, this one has been awhile. Easy, easy I was a Kindergarten Teacher and definitely not a chef. However, if memory recalls there were 2 easy versions: 1. Blend vanilla ice cream & Oreos/sandwich cookies in blender. 2. Blend chocalate pudding prepared, maybe vanilla ice cream, & of course Oreos/sandwich cookies in blender. Either version, put in a very clean bucket(tin looks so cool). Crumble Oreos/sandwich cookies over top till covered and add gummi worms while adding crumbled cookies. Have put a flower in it but you could add green dyed coconut for grass or just green frosting (green dye & white cream cheese frosting, mix it up). Like I said, I am no chef or even a great cook, decent most days. But do know easy & kids. Enjoy, have a great celebration!!!

Wow! 32 responses so far...I just made this last week and went to neighbors for ideas...should have posted I would have gotten more to work with. My 18 month old got into the layers of the chocolate cake before it was frosted so I needed something to do with it. Ended up making it into chunks putting it into a 9x13 with some gummy worms (needed more of these everyone wanted one) mixing chocolate pudding with cool whip and spreading it on the cake. Crushed oreo cookies on the top with more gummy worms sticking out. I assembled it last minute because I thought the cake might get too soggy. Lit sparkler candles an a number for his age on top. Love your John Deere theme. Hope all have fun!

Pre-make the "bucket of dirt" chocolate birthday cake. Using a large bucket(plastic),layer cake with chocolate pudding and gummy bugs. Top it off with a layer of crumbled Oreos or other dark colored cookie that can be crumbled and sprinkle with some candy rocks and have some of the gummy worms peeking up from the dirt. Celebrate with candles. Serve the cake into smaller plastic buckets that the kids could use paint pens to decorate their names on as a mini fun project beforehand. Use small shovels(ones for sand boxes might work)as the utensils. The buckets could also be used as the party favor "bags" after they eat...

I did a dirt cake at a park & it was fine.. but my party was in october. we used a choc. cake, pudding, & crushed up oreos.. & we put it in the back of a large toy dumptruck. but, you could do this same cake w/o the pudding if you're worried about the heat.. good luck!