It's hard to resist playing tricks on April Fool's Day so why bother pretending that it won't happen? Here are a few recipes to fool the eye and trick the taste buds.
For a delicious and yes, skewed menu, try these sweet and savory recipes. Be prepared for "oohs" and "ahhs" as the meal unfolds in a slightly wacky, out-of-order way.
Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato "Icing"
This tricky concoction has been around for some time but still elicits surprise with its WOW factor. The "icing" really takes this dish over the top if a pastry bag (or plastic baggie) and an icing tip is used to make the potatoes look exactly like icing.
Ingredients for Cupcakes:
- 1 lb ground beef (or turkey, veal, pork)
- 1/2 Vidalia onion, diced
- 3/4 cups breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- cupcake liners, muffin tins
Directions for Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Soak breadcrumbs in milk and set aside. Saute onions in olive oil, add garlic when onions are tender.
- Mix together meat, eggs, onions, Parmesan cheese, parsley. Add breadcrumb mixture and blend or puree.
- Place meat mixture into cupcake liners in a muffin tin, bake for 25 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack.
Ingredients for Icing:
- A 2-lb package of already-prepared mashed potatoes (or make from scratch)
- beet juice from canned beets
- garnish: green pepper flakes for pink icing, red pepper flakes for white icing.
Directions for Icing:
- Separate mashed potatoes in two bowls. One bowl will have white "icing" and the other will have "pink" icing.
- To make the pink "icing", add 2 Tbsp beet juice from can and stir into mashed potatoes.
- Cut off a small corner of the plastic baggie after filling with mashed potatoes and squeeze out potato-icing onto cupcakes.
- To garnish the pink icing, use green pepper flakes. To garnish the white icing, use red pepper flakes.
Sushi Roll-Ups
These are not the appetizers one expects, a truly wacky rendition of sushi.
Ingredients:
- Fruit roll-ups (the long, flat, 1-inch wide roll-ups). You'll need 6 packs and that should make several sushi roll-ups per pack. Experiment with these prior to party day, it's nice to know exactly how they behave.
- Twinkies. Yep, the old-fashioned little cakes with icing in the middle. Buy 9 if you want to make 27 rolls. You'll be cutting them in thirds, but often, if the cut isn't clean enough, the messed-up Twinkie gets popped in the mouth.
- Fish or worm Gummies. A bag of 24 should do the trick.
Directions:
- Slice the Twinkies in thirds, or fourths.
- Roll the Twinkies in the fruit roll-ups so they resemble a real sushi roll.
- Place the fish Gummies in the center of the Twinkie icing.
- Smile. You just made sushi without any raw fish.
Fried Eggs on Toast
What a beautiful way to serve dessert. It's easy! It has fruit, cake, and yogurt, so who can argue? Enjoy the presentation of this cute surprise ending to any meal. This recipe makes 12 desserts.
Ingredients:
- 12 slices pound cake
- 12 canned peach halves
- 3 vanilla yogurts
- ground allspice
Directions:
- Place a slice of pound cake on dessert plate. Spread a dollop of yogurt to make an 'egg white'. Place a peach half on top for the 'yolk'. Sprinkle the allspice on top as 'pepper'.
- Serve eggs on toast for dessert and remember to take a photo!
Playing with food (measuring, timing, creating) can be inspirational to children of all ages. For those interested in playing with food, check out Making Breakfast Fun and Fun Food Ideas for Kids' Parties.
Vicki F. Chavis - Growing up in Asia, Europe and North America left Vicki with a love of cuisine, history, language, fashion and travel. Today she writes on ...
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