10 Edible Tricks For April Fool's Day Slideshow

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Solid Juice at Breakfast

Instead of swapping out a glass of juice for vinegar or dying the milk an unusual bright color, transform the morning beverage du jour into something solid by adding gelatin. Follow the instructions on the gelatin package and pour the "juice" into juice glasses. When you serve breakfast in the morning, set out the glasses of juice for the taking, then wait to see what happens when someone goes to take a sip.

Salt in the Sugar Bowl

While we're not too keen on ruining one's morning coffee by sticking salt in the sugar bowl (for those who really need their a.m. brew, it's better not to get between them and their fix), we have no bad feelings about putting sugar in the salt shaker. Make scrambled eggs for breakfast and set out the "salt" shakers. Once they season their serving, your egg-eating-diners will be in for a (sweet) surprise.

Bake a Special Cake

Whether you have reason to celebrate on April 1st or not, do as one TDM editor did for her friend (who was so unlucky as to have an April Fool's birthday): Instead of making a traditional cake using a rectangular pan, they covered a cardboard gift box with lots of chocolate frosting and colorful decorations. Imagine the birthday girl's surprise — then disappointment — when she tried to cut into her cake. (Just be sure to have a real cake waiting in the wings.) 

Dessert for Dinner

Instead of serving up colored milk or rubber chicken on April 1st, opt for a deliciously deceptive meal of cupcakes and ice cream sundaes. No, we're not talking about the real sweets here, but meatloaf and mashed potatoes under disguise. For the meatloaf, simply bake in foil-lined muffin tins as usual, and then top with ketchup "frosting." Serve alongside a scoop of mashed potato "ice cream," topped with gravy "caramel." Eating dessert has never been so nutritious.

Unwelcome Guests in the Ice Cubes

Whether it's in a tall glass of ice water, lemonade at lunch, or your rum drink or margarita during cocktail hour, swap out regular ice cubes for something more unsettling: Ice cubes with small bugs frozen inside. While this requires forethought (small plastic bugs and freezing ice cubes in trays), the initial shock and awe factor is completely worth it (plus, no spoiled drinks). 

Worms in your Fruit or Green Salad

This is an easy prank to pull off. Simply place a candy gummy worm at the bottom of the bowl, and then top with fruit salad (for breakfast) or a green salad (or cupcake, as seen to the left. Watch patiently for the shock and surprise once your victim finds an unexpected guest at the bottom of the bowl.

Technicolor Breakfast Cereal

This is a prank that is perfect for those who have a morning cereal or granola and yogurt habit. Before pouring the cereal or yogurt into the bowl, add a couple of drops of blue food coloring. Then add the cereal/yogurt as usual. When your diner goes to pour the milk into the bowl, or stir the granola into the yogurt, they will be in for a big surprise when their milk or yogurt comes out tinted blue (you can also use another color dye).

A Chocolate Treat

Who doesn't love a box of chocolates? Instead of presenting the loved one in your life with a box of chocolate truffles, make them a box of homemade (trick) chocolates.

 

Simply purchase a pint of cherry tomatoes at the store. Wash the tomatoes and make sure they are completely dry, then dip them in melted chocolate (you might have to coat them twice). If you'd like to leave the chocolates plain, let them dry on a waxed paper surface. Alternatively, garnish them with a piece of a chopped raisin or flaky sea salt for an authentic look. Or, try rolling them in cocoa powder or flaked coconut for something decadent. Imagine the surprise when someone pops a chocolate in their mouth and they get an explosion of tomato juice!

Is it Dinner (or Dessert)?

Meatballs, grilled cheese, and tomato soup for dinner? Yes, please!

 

For the meatballs, make small scoops of chocolate ice cream and roll them in cocoa powder. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze until solid. For the grilled cheese, cut thin slices of vanilla pound cake or brioche and grill each slice on one side to get grill marks. Slather the un-marked side generously with marshmallow fluff or sweetened mascarpone (or Nutella if you don't care about the color of your "cheese"). Sandwich the filling, slice, and serve with tomato (aka strawberry) soup. 

Lunchbox Surprises

Imagine opening up your lunchbox at noon, your tummy grumbling, only to find out that your sandwich had grown green spots since that morning. Really? Mold?

 

That's one of the many tricks one TDM editor's (smart) mom played on her every April Fool's Day. One time she tinted the milk in her Thermos blue; other tricks included packing a wax apple or plastic grapes instead of its fresh, edible counterpart in her lunchbox.