Kitty Litter Cake {Recipe}

Who's ever heard of a kitty litter cake? I know I have. Though I have never sampled one, let alone made one. I took on the task of creating one for my office Halloween party. Dessert hour allows us to get really creative with food decorations and the whole Halloween theme. After our lunch hour of monster eyes mac-n-cheese balls, skeleton stew, mummy wraps and other Halloween creations we were ready for dessert. Everyone was excited to see and try my kitty litter cake. At least, we thought we were...it looked creepily real...

After staring at it and discussing it along with the other desserts for at least 10 minutes, someone was finally brave enough to dig in.

"This is the best kitty litter I've ever had."

Well, that was good to know. :) 

 It was definitely a success. Thankfully. I was afraid it'd taste as bad as it looked. We even used the scooper to serve ourselves. :)

This was so simple to make. It took some time, but nonetheless, it was very easy to make. I made my own variation from the below recipe found on AllRecipes.com. My comments/changes (based on other reviews and my taste) are in purple. The end result was a super moist white cake. Not too gooey, and not dry at all. Very similar to a cake pop consistency--with almost the taste of raw cake batter. YUM!! 

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix ((I used a Funfetti mix))
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
• 2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix ((I used one small package of White Chocolate instant pudding))
• 1 (12 ounce) package vanilla sandwich cookies ((Golden Oreos))
• 3 drops green food coloring
• 1 (12 ounce) package tootsie rolls ((I used Little Debbie Brownies))
• Kitty litter box and scooper adds the perfect touch!! Oh, having a cute kitty doesn't hurt ei'her. :)

Directions

1. Prepare cake mixes and bake according to package directions (any size pan).
2. Prepare pudding according to package directions and chill until ready to assemble.
3. Crumble sandwich cookies in small batches in a food processor, scraping often. Set aside all but 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup add a few drops of green food coloring and mix.
4. When cakes are cooled to room temperature, ((I didn't wait--I'm impatient)) crumble them into a large bowl. Toss with 1/2 of the remaining cookie crumbs, and the chilled pudding. You probably won't need all of the pudding, you want the cake to be just moist, not soggy.((This is why I only used one box of pudding, and for the fact that Funfetti mix has pudding in it))
5. Line kitty litter box with the kitty litter line. ((I did not use a liner as many reviews said it was actually more difficult to deal with. I had no issue not using the liner)) Put cake mixture into box.
6. Put half of the unwrapped tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until softened. Shape the ends so that they are no longer blunt, and curve the tootsie rolls slightly. Bury tootsie rolls randomly in the cake and sprinkle with half of the remaining cookie crumbs. ((Many reviews recommended not using tootsie rolls as they harden and people tend to not eat them. Little Debbie brownies worked PERFECTLY, they didn't harden over night...oh, and I don't like tootsie rolls)) Sprinkle a small amount of the green colored cookie crumbs lightly over the top.
7. Heat 3 or 4 of the tootsie rolls in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle lightly with some of the green cookie crumbs. Heat the remaining tootsie rolls until pliable and shape as before. ((Oh, and you don't have to heat up Little Debbie brownies to shape them)) Spread all but one randomly over top of cake mixture. Sprinkle with any remaining cookie crumbs. Hang the remaining tootsie roll over side of litter box and sprinkle with a few green cookie crumbs. Serve with the pooper scooper for a gross Halloween dessert.

This was the remainder of the cake after dessert hour. Only one 'nugget' was left over--I guess the word got around that it tasted pretty good! :)

After making this for the first time it's safe to say I'll definitely be making one again in the future for other Halloween parties. It was a hit. Now, if you want to go less gross, you can create cute desserts like Francesca and Rebecca did...

 'Tombstone' and 'Ding Dong the Witch is Dead' cupcakes!!

They were SUPER yummy too!!