Want to fool your family on April Fool’s Day? Here’s a sneaky way to do that, at the dinner table.
(All of these recipes can be found at Family Fun. No, this is not a sponsored post).
Pile your dinner plates with a meal fit for April Fools’ Day. Just be sure to eat dinner first.
Ingredients
* Store-bought cupcake or poundcake
* Store-bought buttercream frosting
* Strawberry ice cream sauce
* Butter knife
* Chocolate malt balls
* Blanched walnuts or almonds
* Coconut
* Shallow baking pan
* Blender
* Green sprinkles
* White chocolate
* Double broiler or microwave
* Spoon
* Lady fingers
Instructions
1. Place a half of cupcake (top or bottom) or a half a slice of pound cake in the center of a plate.
2. Spoon the buttercream frosting into a decorating tube fitted with a large, circular tip and pipe it in a looping fashion around the sides of the biscuit or cake – do not frost the top.
3. Spoon strawberry ice cream sauce on top of the muffin or cake to cover. Drizzle a little over portions of the spaghetti as well.
4. For the meatballs, use a butter knife to rough up the surface of two or three chocolate covered malt balls. Place them on top of the “sauce.”
5. For the Parmesan cheese, crush a handful of blanched almonds or walnuts in a blender and then sprinkle the pieces over the sauce and “meatballs.”
6. For the garlic bread, toast some coconut (for garlic) in a shallow baking pan at 350º, stirring often, for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. For butter, melt 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips in a double broiler or heat them in a microwave for about 1and 1/2 minutes at half power and stir until smooth. Spread the melted white chocolate on the toasted lady fingers. Top with the toasted coconut and green sprinkles for parsley.
This April Fools’ Day, pull a fast one (or better yet, a fast-food one!) on your kids by replacing a classic salty snack with a little something sweet: sugary fake fries.
Ingredients
* 1 package of plain, prepared breadstick dough
* Kitchen scissors
* Sugar
* White envelope
* Seedless strawberry jam
Instructions
1. Begin by unrolling the dough and separating the breadsticks. Use kitchen scissors to cut them into 1/4-inch-wide sticks.
2. Roll all the sticks in sugar, then bake them on a cookie sheet according to the package directions or until golden brown (ours took about 8 minutes). Leave them on the tray until they’re cool.
3. Make this mix-up even more fun by putting the fries in a fast-food fry sleeve (the cutoff end of a sealed envelope; ours was 2 1/2 inches deep) and serving them with a side of “ketchup” (jam whisked with a fork to a smooth consistency).
On April Fools’ Day, trick your family with a tiny breakfast that’s really a cleverly disguised dessert.
Ingredients
* FOR THE EGGS:
* 3 tablespoons white chocolate chips
* 12 yellow M&MS
* FOR THE FAKIN’:
* 1 square caramel
* 1 Tootsie Roll Midgee
Instructions
1. For the eggs: Melt the white chocolate chips according to the package directions. Transfer the melted chocolate to a ziplock bag and snip off a corner.
2. Squeeze nickel-size portions of the chocolate onto a sheet of waxed paper, then gently press a yellow M&M, letter side down, into the center of each. Let the candies cool. Makes 12 eggs.
3. For the fakin’: Remove the wrapping from a square caramel and a Tootsie Roll Midgee. Microwave the candies for 4 seconds to make them soft. Use your thumb and forefinger to slightly flatten each candy piece, then press them together.
4. Halve the candy, then stack and press the pieces into alternating layers.
5. Slice a 1/4-inch-wide piece from the stack. Pinch and stretch the piece lengthwise into a flat bacon strip, then cut it in half. Add ripples to each half by gently bending the edges. Makes 3 strips (6 pieces).
At first glance, a slice of this pie appears to offer something sweet: chocolate filling topped with strawberry whipped cream. But unsuspecting diners are in for a surprise…. It’s really a shepherd’s pie in disguise! Cocoa, molasses, and barbecue sauce give the meat its chocolaty color, while whipped potatoes infused with beet juice complete the deception. The best part of the prank is that you’re also making dinner!
Ingredients
* “CHOCOLATE” MEAT LOAF FILLING
* 1/3 cup barbecue sauce
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1 tablespoon dark, unsulfured molasses
* 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
* 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
* 1 small onion, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon canola oil
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 2/3 cup bread crumbs
* 1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* “STRAWBERRY” POTATO TOPPING
* 2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
* Salt
* 1/2 cup canned sliced beets (not pickled)
* 1/4 cup (or more) warm milk
* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 350º. In a small saucepan, combine the barbecue sauce, milk, molasses, cocoa, and chili powder. Set the pan over medium heat and whisk the mixture until it is lukewarm and the cocoa is completely dissolved. Set it aside to cool.
2. Sauté the onions in the tablespoon of canola oil until they are transparent, about 7 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the salt, celery salt, pepper, and bread crumbs. Then add the beef, egg, sauce mixture, and onion. Thoroughly mix the ingredients using your hands or a wooden spoon.
4. Remove the pie shell from the freezer. (We placed ours in a Pyrex dish to help ensure that the pie would bake evenly.) Transfer the meat to the shell, spreading it evenly with a spoon. Bake it until the meat is cooked through, about 60 minutes.
5. While the pie is baking, prepare the mashed potato topping. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and add enough water to completely submerge them. Salt the water lightly, cover the pot, and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and cook the potatoes at a low boil until they are tender, about 12 minutes.
6. While the potatoes cook, puree the beets and 1/4 cup warm milk in a blender until only small bits of beet are left in the mixture. Set aside.
7. Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and pureed beets and, using an electric mixer, whip the mixture until it’s smooth and fluffy. Add more milk if needed and salt to taste.
8. Spread the whipped potatoes over the top of the cooked meat pie with a spatula, as you would whipped cream, mounding it slightly in the center. Slice and serve the pie while the potatoes are still hot. Makes 8 servings.
This nutty mix of veggie impostors is guaranteed to cause a stir!
Ingredients
* Fruit Roll-Ups, 2 to 3 green rolls and 1 red roll
* 1 1/2 teaspoons hulled sunflower seeds
* 1 1/2 cups dried apple rings
* 3/4 cup dried pineapple chunks
* 1/2 cup cashews
Instructions
1. First, make a bunch of pea pods. For each one, cut a 2 1/4-inch square from a green fruit roll. Arrange five or six sunflower seeds (for peas) on the strip in a vertical row, just off center. Fold the strip in half over the seeds and press the edges together to seal them. Use a butter knife or kitchen scissors to trim the sealed edges into a rounded pod shape.
2. Next, cut the red fruit roll into thin pepper strips and the apple rings into bite-size chicken pieces. For the full effect, combine the pea pods, pepper strips, chicken pieces, pineapple chunks, and cashews in a frying pan. Or serve the mix on plates with chopsticks. Makes three cups
Bon Appétit and have fun!
Write From Karen 