A Treat For April Fool's Day That's No Joke

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

Are your family fans of playing practical jokes on one another? There’s no better time of year to do so than the first of this coming month, April Fool’s Day. It’s an occasion to pull some funny and lighthearted pranks on your friends and family, gags that will have everyone laughing heartily.

This one day of the year it’s okay to play with your (or your kids) food. Here are a few time tested ideas guaranteed to put a smile on your kids' faces once they realize the joke is on them. Summon your inner trickster for these and other food related high jinks that are more nice than naughty.

First off, start the morning with some colorful dyed milk. You can put red, blue or green food coloring into the jug of milk the night before. Then when your kids go to pour it over their cereal in the morning, they’ll be surprised and delighted when the milk isn’t its usual color.

You can also tint scrambled eggs any color you desire for another breakfast prank. Just refer back to the green eggs and ham recipe from the beginning of March, and you can substitute any food color you like.

Replace your normal ice cubes with some spooky bug filled ones from the magic store. This is guaranteed to bring a look of horror and possibly some screams from your children until they realize they’ve been duped.

And just when they’ve thought you got all the foolery out of your system, plan a dinner of “desserts.” How about meatloaf cupcakes accompanied by a mashed potato sundae? Just make your favorite meatloaf recipe and bake in muffin tins until golden brown. For the sundae, scoop the mashed potatoes so they look just like vanilla ice cream and place in a sundae dish; top with gravy so it looks like caramel sauce.

Or use the mashed potatoes to “ice” the meatloaf so it looks like a cake, complete with pretty cherry tomatoes on top. I’ll bet your kids would be thrilled with this change in normal mealtime routine, and dive right into dessert for dinner.

Of course if you have particularly sensitive or squeamish kids that would not laugh off food being different than the usual pattern or you don’t want to put everyone in an uproar, then you might not want to try these jokes out on them. But you can still celebrate April Fool’s Day.

For dessert you can have an April’s Fools treat that’s no joke. An English Fruit Fool is a classic dessert that is simply pureed fruit folded together with lightly sweetened whipped cream. The term Fool is said to have derived from the French "fouler," (to mash) but the origins of this dessert, which dates back to the sixteenth century remain unclear.

It’s a good dish to serve even if you don’t believe in pulling any type of pranks on the first of April whatsoever. All you need are fresh whipped cream and a little fruit puree or smooth fruit jam to fold together for an easy homemade dessert.

The recipe below is for a Strawberry Fruit Fool, but feel free to exchange the strawberries for any seasonal fruit or combination of your favorites. You can share this simple recipe with your kids for a little constructive fun in the kitchen.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh sliced strawberries

***Strawberry Puree***

• 1 pound strawberries, sliced (if using frozen berries, thaw first)
• 1/3 cup sugar