Halloween Dirt Cake

Halloween Dirt Cake layers chocolate pudding over a chocolate cake before being finished off with a 3-ingredient frosting and fun toppings! This festive cake will be an absolute hit at this year’s Halloween Party!

Snag another tasty Halloween-themed recipe like my Halloween Spider Cookies that are ready in an hour or these Easy Halloween Monster Cookies that are made with a chocolate cake mix!

Save the tricks and just enjoy a treat like this Halloween Dirt Cake instead! This dessert has it all with its chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, chocolate frosting, AND fun edible decorations to make a Graveyard!

Whip up this cake and serve it to the kids and their friends while they color these fun and free Halloween Coloring Pages! Or enjoy it with YOUR friends at the adult Halloween Party that’s complete with the Ultimate Halloween Party Music Playlist or while watching a spooky movie you picked off of my 33 Must-See Halloween Movies List!

Either way, you can make this cake as spooky or family-friendly as you want to fit the occasion! Whether it’s a graveyard, pumpkin patch, or a spider’s web it’ll pack a ton of WOW! factor to those who will be eating a slice!

This Halloween dessert is packed with four layers of delicious chocolate flavor!

Ingredient Notes

This Halloween Dirt Cake Recipe uses pantry staple ingredients and some store-bought items to create a festive and delicious dessert! To get started this recipe is broken down into four parts: the cake, filling, frosting, and fun toppings!

The cake batter begins with a boxed chocolate cake mix and a box of instant chocolate pudding mix. From there the two are doctored up with sour cream, vegetable oil, whole milk, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt.

Once the chocolate cake is baked it gets holes poked into the top so the filling can seep down into the cake! To make the filling you’ll need another box of instant chocolate pudding mix and some more whole milk.

After the pudding is spread over the top of the cake it will get sealed over with chocolate frosting. This is made by combining heavy cream, powdered sugar, and instant chocolate pudding mix.

Lastly are the fun toppings! For this I used:

• Oreos – These get crushed up to make the ‘dirt’ layer.
• Milano Cookies and Black Gel Icing – The gel icing is used to write R.I.P. on the Milano cookies to create the edible tombstones.
• Ghost Peeps – These get stuck into the frosting on top of the cake!
• Candy – I used candy corn pumpkins but feel free to use any Halloween candy you’d like!
• Sprinkles – Halloween themed for a fun finishing touch all over the top of the cake!

How To Make This Easy Halloween Cake

1. Cake: Mix together all of the cake ingredients and then pour the thick batter into the prepared cake pan.
2. Bake the cake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Then allow it cool before poking holes all over the top using the handle of a wooden spoon.
3. Filling: whisk the pudding mix and milk together. Allow it to set afterward so that it slightly thickens.
4. Spread the pudding over the top of the cake.
5. Frosting: whisk the frosting ingredients together in a large bowl until it becomes thick and fluffy.
6. Spread the frosting over the top of the cake.
7. Toppings: Pulse the Oreos in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Then sprinkle the crumbs over the top of the cake.
8. Write R.I.P. on the Milano cookies and then stand them up in the frosting on the cake.
9. Press the ghost Peeps into the frosting so they stand up as well.
10. Add the candy pumpkins around the ghosts and tombstones. Garnish with sprinkles if desired!

Frequently Asked Questions

How To Store

Store this Halloween Cake loosely covered in the refrigerator and enjoy it for up to 4 days!

Can I Use A Regular Buttercream Frosting On The Cake Instead?

For this cake, I actually don’t recommend using regular buttercream because it’s a bit too heavy. This frosting keeps it light and creamy without being too sweet.

What If I Can’t Find A Box Of Duncan Hines Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix?

That’s ok, any standard chocolate cake mix should also work just fine.

Can I Make This Cake Ahead Of Time?

I’d recommend baking the cake up to one day in advance but then frosting it and decorating it right before serving.

This Graveyard Cake is an easy way to impress your kids, co-workers, and family members with both taste and festive appearance! Here are more deliciously impressive desserts that you’ll also want to make for Halloween!

• Easy Halloween Chocolate Covered Oreos – Grab a package of Oreos and whip up a simple Halloween treat that the kids will love!
• Mummy Halloween Cupcakes – Moist chocolate cupcakes get dressed up as a Mummy using vanilla buttercream and candy eyes!
• Halloween Seven Layer Magic Bars – Refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough gets layered with Oreos, chocolate chunks, M&Ms, and sweetened condensed milk before being topped with candy corn and Halloween sprinkles!
• Melted Witch Cupcakes – Made using a boxed cake mix and ready to share in under an hour!
• Easy Halloween Dirt Cups – Layers of creamy chocolate and vanilla are sprinkled with crushed Oreo ‘dirt’ and then brought to life with pretzel ‘monster fingers’, gummy worms, and candy eyeballs!

Let’s Connect!

If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review. I love hearing from you!

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