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Get into the spirit of the day and play a harmless joke of your own: Serve your family a meal that looks entirely different from how it tastes! What looks like a plate of spaghetti and meatballs is really spaghetti squash and delicious cheese, cracker and pecan "meatballs"! Or, tell everybody that it's a Mini-Hamburger and Pizza Night, and serve up cookies that look like mini-hamburgers and a pizza made of creamy cheese and fruit. Have fun, and when your family realizes what they are really eating, don't forget to say "April Fools'!"
Turn the tables this year with a surprise dessert that will both fool and delight them. Served on a dinner plate, it looks just like mashed potatoes, chicken nuggets and vegetables. But look again.... |
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The Main Course
For the chicken nuggets and vegetables, you'll need to purchase some peanut butter logs and peas-and-carrots candy mix. (Both candies are sold by the pound at most candy stores.) On each dinner plate, arrange four or five peanut butter logs and a small handful of the candy mix. Right before serving, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt to each plate. Top with gravy a spoonful of caramel sauce or butterscotch topping.
Refreshments
The last laugh is sure to be yours when your kids try sipping this colorful beverage. It's actually flavored gelatin, so you'll need to prepare it ahead of time.
Dissolve a package of dessert gelatin according to the directions on the box (orange to look like iced tea; raspberry, strawberry or lemon to resemble fruit punch).
Pour the liquid gelatin into drinking glasses, then place a plastic straw in each. Set the glasses on a tray in the refrigerator until the gelatin firms up.
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Make Dinner Look Like Dessert!
Everyone will look at you wide-eyed when you serve dessert first. But, surprise! It only looks like dessert...
The Meatloaf Cake
You'll need
Two round cake pans
Your favorite meatloaf recipe
Mashed potatoes
Ketchup, Cherry tomatoes
Prepare your favorite meatloaf recipe as you normally would, but, before baking, divide the mixture into the two round cake pans and pat it flat. Bake as usual, but shorten the cooking time (these thinner meatloaves won't take nearly as long to cook). While the meatloaf is in the oven, make a batch of mashed potatoes, adding a little extra milk to them and whipping them with an electric beater until they are fluffy and spreadable. When the meatloaves are done, invert one of them onto a round plate. Cover the meat with a thick, even layer of mashed potatoes. Place the other meatloaf on top of the potato layer, and finish frosting the "cake" with the remaining potatoes. Garnish with halved cherry tomatoes to look like cherries. Just before serving, decorate the top of your crazy cake creation with ketchup. You can use it to write a personalized message to the hungry gang at the dinner table, or just a simple "Happy April Fool's Day!"
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The Spaghetti Torte
You'll need
A large springform pan, generously greased
Your favorite pasta sauce
A pound of pasta
Mozzarella or provolone cheese
Ricotta cheese or more pasta sauce for "frosting"
Bet you've never had spaghetti like this before! It looks like a fancy torte, but it's still the same pasta, sauce and cheese combo that the whole family loves. Toss your favorite pasta sauce with about a pound of cooked pasta. Gently fold a couple of beaten eggs into the pasta mixture, and then spread half of this mixture into the well-greased springform pan. Sprinkle the pasta with shredded provolone or mozzarella cheese, and then cover the cheese with the remaining pasta mixture. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Allow your spaghetti "cake" to rest for about 15 minutes before unmolding it from the springform pan. You can "frost" this tasty cake with ricotta cheese or drizzle it with more pasta sauce just before serving.
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Fish Stick Surprise!
You'll need
Cylindrical candy bars
Toasted coconut
Vanilla ice cream
Caramel sauce
Gummy candies in the shapes of vegetables -- peas, carrots, corn, etcetera (available in bulk at most candy stores)
Of course, there isn't really any fish or potatoes to be found in this devious dessert, but the kids are going to love this catch of the day! Candy bars coated in toasted coconut look like just like fish sticks, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream crowned with caramel sauce can look suspiciously like mashed potatoes and gravy. Depending on the candy bars you choose, you may need to cut them in half to be the length of an average fish stick. Place the candy bars on a microwave-safe plate and zap them on high power for about five seconds - just long enough to soften the chocolate without completely melting it. Sprinkle the toasted coconut on a sheet of waxed paper and roll each candy bar in it until completely coated. Arrange two or three "fish sticks" on each plate alongside a small handful of gummy veggies. Just before serving, use a round scoop to adorn each plate with a serving of vanilla ice cream "mashed potatoes" and top with a drizzle of caramel "gravy."
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Spaghetti Cake
You'll need
Vanilla frosting
Yellow food coloring
Piping bag with a round tip, approximately 1/8 inch in diameter
Sliced pound cake
Strawberry sauce
Malt balls
Grated white chocolate
How about cake that looks like spaghetti! All you need to do is tint the frosting pale yellow - the color of cooked spaghetti - and spoon it into the piping bag. Lay a slice of pound cake on each plate. Pipe the frosting onto each piece of cake, using big looping motions to create the appearance of spaghetti piled on the plate. Top with strawberry topping for "spaghetti sauce." Make those malt balls look just like little meatballs by roughing up the outsides with a butter knife or fine cheese grater. Now all you need to do to complete the look is add a sprinkle of grated white chocolate for the Parmesan cheese!
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