Believe it or not, insects, bugs, and other strange creatures are a delicacy in many countries around the world. From small villages to big cities, creepy crawlers and antennae clad flyers are on the menu — and the natives love it! One of the most popular of all edible creatures is the worm. Worms are a true delicacy in places such as China and Mexico. In Mexico worm tacos are common and everyone is familiar with the old “worm on the bottom of the tequila glass” right? In China, worm bamboo shoots and worm jelly are normal delicacies and some are even more expensive than caviar.

If you’re an American and you have been eating worms, chances are you lost a bet or you just wanted to gross someone out. If you want to eat worms in the U.S., you can – but they probably won’t be real worms. While America has no desire to fry, sauté or dip its night crawlers in chocolate, America loves to come up with tasty sweet treats and candies that are shaped like worms. One of the most popular candies for kids all around the world today is the gummy worm. Gummy worms are basically made from edible gelatin and sugar. Gummy worms can be eaten alone or used as part of a recipe to make cupcakes, cookies, and cakes. A popular gummy worm cake is the “dirt cake with gummy worms.”

Dirt cake with gummy worms is a novelty cake made from ingredients kids love such as Oreo cookies, cool whip, chocolate pudding, and gummy worms. Used mostly for kid’s parties, dirt cake with gummy worms has many different versions, but the recipe listed below is a favorite. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 bag of gummy worms
1 1/4 lb. pkg. Oreo cookies
1 12 oz. tub Cool Whip (can use chocolate)
2 3 1/2 oz. pkg. instant vanilla or chocolate pudding
1/2 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 cups milk
Flower pot (8 inch diameter)

Crush Oreos. Put 1/3 of the crushed Oreos into brand new flower pot. Set aside.

Mix sugar, butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Set aside.

Stir milk and pudding mix together. Fold Cool Whip into the pudding.

Fold pudding mixture and butter-cream cheese mixture together.

Layer the mixture (about 1/3) onto the crumbled cookies. Add another layer of the pudding mixture, then another layer of cookie crumbs. Continue until all ingredients have been used.

Place the gummy worms in the “soil” with their heads poking out. Embellish with decorative pieces like edible flowers or plastic daisies.

Chill for 3 to 4 hours before serving.

For a low-sugar dirt cake with gummy worms, replace the powdered sugar with “powdered Splenda” made from scratch. The following recipe is perfect because dirt cake with gummy worms does not require baking.

Try the following Splenda recipe for powdered sugar:

1 cup granulated Splenda (buy a box of loose Splenda, not the sugar packets)
1 tsp cornstarch

Place the Splenda and the cornstarch in a mixer or food processor. Blend on high speed for one minute until the texture is similar to powdered sugar. The mixture can be stored in an airtight container for up to one month. While Splenda can be used for baking, keep in mind that this particular Splenda mixture is not intended for baking. Click here for Splenda baking tips.

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