Make a Dirt 'N' Worms Tiramisu
A whimsical recipe by Zoe Denenberg, excerpted from Candy Land
Cake friends,
If you grew up in the eighties or nineties, you probably remember dirt ‘n’ worms, a dessert featuring chocolate pudding “mud,” crushed Oreo “dirt,” and technicolor gummy critters. In Candy Land, baker Zoe Denenberg offers a grown-up version, swapping the straightforward pudding for a layered tiramisu.
“Each bite should feel like an archaeological adventure,” she writes, describing layers of cold brew-soaked ladyfingers, dark chocolate pudding, and lightly sweetened mascarpone whip, that “more accurately represent the soil’s stratification.”
If you made it to our Candy Land launch party in July, you probably sampled Libby Willis’s take on the dessert, a mountain of tiramisu layered into a literal fish tank. Now, you can make the dessert at home. We’re excited to share Zoe’s recipe from the issue here.
If you make the tiramisu, tag us on Instagram: @cake_zine and @whatszoecooking.
Misc Cake Content:
Read: An interview with Khalil Griffith on managing one of the largest contemporary public food forests in North America, Beacon Food Forest, by LinYee Yuan.
Attend: Secret Riso Club is hosting a workshop in NYC for photographers who are interested in transforming their projects into a printed book on Sept 28-29th.
Eat: Tough Cookie contributor Ali Domrongchai is throwing an ice-cream sandwich pop up at Brix Haus in Park Slope, on September 21st from 12-2pm with Thai tea and Neapolitan ice cream delights.
Bake: Wicked Cake contributor KC Hysmith and Oona O’Toole are hosting a cake pickin’, inspired by the tradition of southern pig pickins’. North Carolina folks can RSVP here and should bake a cake to share.
Read: Chef, recipe developer, and food writer Ifrah F. Ahmed’s essay in Acacia Mag on navigating her relationship to gendered expectations in the kitchen.
When I lived in a group home in the 90s, this was the go-to birthday dessert for all the kids. I’m guessing because it was budget-friendly with powdered pudding and Oreo cookies, but still a crowd pleaser. I don’t have the best memories tied to it, though, so I’m excited to try Zoe’s grown-up take and create some new ones. I love how she described it as an archaeological adventure. 🍫🐛💕
yay zoe!! 🐛💕