The Vintage Southern Layered Dessert That Earned The Nickname 'Girdle Buster'

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Some older cake recipes, such as German chocolate cake, have stood the test of time, remaining a go-to for modern households. But there are other vintage chocolate desserts that deserve a comeback. And the Southern layered dessert known as the "girdle buster" is one old-fashioned recipe you'll want to make again and again.

While it's called a girdle buster, this layered dessert has light and fluffy cream and pudding layers that aren't any more decadent than a slice of chocolate cake. The dessert starts with a crunchy cookie crust, usually crushed graham crackers and butter, baked to a firm foundation. The rest of the dessert is a no-bake endeavor, consisting of a cream cheese-based layer flavored with peanut butter and vanilla, followed by a layer of chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and often a crunchy garnish. After finishing the layers, you'll slide the dessert into the fridge to set.

Despite a short stint in the oven for a firm and crunchy crust, the girdle buster is a cold, indulgent summertime dessert. It's the perfect textural balance of creamy and crunchy, with a sweet, nutty, and tangy flavor profile. The graham cracker crust and cream cheese layer put the girdle buster in cheesecake territory, while the final layer of chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and a crunchy garnish are reminiscent of a traditional British trifle.

Some recipes refer to the girdle buster as a Jimmy Carter cake due to the president's Southern Georgia peanut farm roots. Just as he was known to love peanut butter ice cream, this peanut butter and chocolate layered cream pie dessert would be right up his alley. That said, other versions of the girdle buster have no peanuts at all. Some girdle buster recipes swap the graham cracker crust for smashed Pecan Sandies and leave peanut butter out of the cream cheese layer, choosing instead to flavor it with vanilla.

Instead of a purely chocolate pudding topping, you can also blend a packet of chocolate and vanilla pudding in keeping with the vanilla theme and garnish the top with crushed Pecan Sandies. What all the variations have in common is a baked cookie crust, a cream cheese layer, a pudding layer, and a whipped cream topping. You can make the recipe even easier by swapping homemade whipped cream topping for Cool Whip.

Pudding packets are the norm for the dessert's penultimate layer, but you can also use premade pudding, choosing from a wide variety of store-bought brands. You can also upgrade the recipe with fresh toppings like chopped roasted peanuts, classic peanut brittle, or Reese's Pieces for the Jimmy Carter cake version, or chopped roasted beacons or pecan brittle instead of crushed Pecan Sandies.