Max's Earthworm Cake

I am so stinkin excited for this month's 'Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten-Free' event...it's fictional food.  Z from Z's cup of tea is hosting it and I love her theme! So fictional food would basically be all the food we read about in books, specifically children's stories.  Oh, the possibilities are endless!

I decided I wanted to make something that would be special to my boys, so Harry Potter and the Hunger Games were out--they aren't old enough to care about those yet. There was really one book that stood out to me and I knew I had to use it as my inspiration: Bunny Cakes.

Now, for those of you that don't know Bunny Cakes, I'm sorry. :)  My boys have grown up on Max and Ruby books and this one is their favorite.  Max and Ruby make birthday cakes for their Grandma...Ruby's is an Angel Surprise Cake with Raspberry Fluff Frosting, and Max makes her an Earthworm cake with Caterpiller Icing, topped with Red Hot Marshmallow Squirters.  Now, I have boys, so you can guess which cake they wanted me to make, right?  So, obviously, we made an edible version of Max's cake...chocolate cake covered in chocolate frosting, cookie crumbs, peppermint glaze and of course, gummy worms and for the marshmallow squirters we used fruit gushers. Enjoy!

Max's Earthworm Cake (i.e. chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and peppermint glaze)
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups GF flour blend
1 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup dairy-free yogurt (I use my homemade yogurt)**
1/2 cup dairy-free milk**
2/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups hot water

1/2 package Kinnikinnick Chocolate Sandwich cookies
~6 gummy worms
1-2 individual packages of red fruit gushers

Chocolate Frosting:
Combine the following in a bowl and set aside:
1/2 C dairy-free margarine
1/4 C dairy-free milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 16 oz package powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa

Pepperimint Glaze:
Combine the following a bowl and set aside:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 T dairy-free milk
1/4 teaspoon mint extract
green food coloring

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease two 9-inch pans and lightly dust with cocoa powder. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour blend, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add in eggs, yogurt, milk, canola oil, and vanilla.  Slowly add in the hot water and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.

Pour batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow the cakes to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes, before removing them from the pan.  Allow the cakes to cool completely before moving on to the next step.

Place the bottom layer onto a large dish or covered cardboard cover the top with chocolate frosting and place the second layer on top.  Take a serrated knife and sculpt the cake to look more domed.  If need take the some of the cut pieces and place them on top to give the cake the domed look. Below is what mine looked like at this point.

 Frost the cake with the chocolate frosting (this is one time it's okay if you get crumbs all over your frosting).

Crush the sandwich cookies (or place them in a food processor and pulse it a few times) and cover the frosted cake with the cookie crumbs. Take about 6 or so gummy worms and roll them in cocoa (this is optional, but not in my house, my boys wanted the worms as realistic as possible!) and place them in various locations on the cake.

Drizzle the top with the peppermint glaze and top it off with the fruit gushers.

**I know that dairy-free yogurt can be expensive, so you can use 1 1/4 cup of non-dairy milk mixed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice in place of the 3/4 cup yogurt mixed with 1/2 cup of non-dairy milk