Remember dirt pudding cups, your birthday party dessert of choice as a 10-year-old? This chocolatey cake is a new twist on the playful concept, in which the surprise of gummy worms sneaks up on your guests — they're hidden inside! Follow our how-to to see how easy it is to make, and get the full recipe below.

Photography by Matt Armendariz

Start with your favorite chocolate cake recipe, baked into two 9-inch rounds. Cut a 4-inch circle out of the center of both rounds, and reserve the cut-out pieces.

Cut one of the small, reserved cake rounds in half horizontally to make two thinner rounds. Use one to fill the hole on the top of the cake (slicing it thinner leaves as much room as possible for the candy inside).

Vanilla wafer cookies turn into a field of cartoon-like blooms when you pipe on royal icing flowers. Make sure they dry thoroughly before you pick them up.

To make the garden theme come to life, start by pressing more crushed-chocolate-wafer-cookie "dirt" onto the sides of the cake to evenly coat. (It's all right if some of the chocolate frosting shows through.)