I continue to marvel at how God reveals himself through the minuscule, seemingly “meaningless” things.
My daughter happened to mention that she wanted a dirt cake for her birthday months ago. Agreeing wholeheartedly with her, that thought went in one ear and out the other. (Am I the only one that happens too?)
Well, her first ever “friend” party had to be postponed, and dirt cake was the last thing on my mind, (I have enough dirt on my floor lest I create some unnecessarily), that was, until I arrived at a fabulous yard sale.

I glanced at this adorable pot, and the woman volunteered, “Oh, we never planted flowers in there, I just used it for dirt cake. Have you heard of that recipe?”

Had I ever? Well, I about hugged and squeezed off her little neck in excitement, graciously stole it from her for a mere $0.50, and skipped on home.
Entering the door, my daughter was beside herself because this meant that a real life friend party was actually coming to fruition.

I marvel at how the Lord ministered to me through a little old flower pot.
Isn’t that so cool? I mean He knew for sure I would never pay retail for one this nice, so He let someone else do it for me. 🙂


How hard can a dirt cake be to make?
Not hard at all. It’s so simple and has such great visual impact that I recommend it for every birthday party, except for the fact that my daughter requested a dirt cake made out of ice cream.
And every single recipe that I googled featured only pudding and cream cheese, so I improvised…which is what I am known for.

Now its official title is Dirt Soup, but I’ll know for next time that the freezer is a good thing.
And yes, we still had candles.

And I don’t think she minded the Dirt Soup one little bit, do you? 🙂

Dirt Cake

(This is the traditional recipe. I will highlight how I changed it to suit my daughter’s request).

Crush: 1 large package Oreo cookies in blender.

Cream together: (I completely skipped this step)

  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • 1 c. powdered sugar

MIX (along with this mixture I added a half gallon of vanilla ice cream)

  • 3 1/2 c. milk
  • 2 pkg. French vanilla instant pudding
  • 12 oz. Cool Whip
Add to cream mixture and mix well.
Place Cool Whip lid in bottom of clean 8-inch flour pot. (Umm, I missed this line…huge mistake. I tried sticking some gummies into close the hole after the fact…don’t laugh. You are at Balancing Beauty AND Bedlam).
Layer cookie mixture and creamed mixture alternately, ending with cookie mixture on top.
Chill overnight. (I put it in the freezer only about an hour before serving it. With ice cream replacing the cream cheese, I needed to put it in for most of the day. It was absolutely delicious anyhow.)
Garnish with artificial flowers and serve with a garden trowel or, layer in a sand bucket.
Place shovel in the middle or towards the side. Have gummy worms “crawling” out of the dirt. Make sure you end with cookie mixture.

I just found flowers that I had in my home instead of purchasing special ones. Yes, a wire cutter would have been nice for those long stems. I’ll be on the look out though for some cute ones for next time.

And yes, now my other daughter wants this next year. Enjoy this dirt cake…it’s all about the delicious memory.