‘Fooling’ around with food

Normally we would feature a blog post for April Fools’ Day that shared the funniest or most clever pranks that food websites or celebrities pulled on their fans. It seems that there are far fewer of these in 2021, perhaps because it seems wrong to try to fool us after everything we have been through in the past year. Instead, we will share some great trompe-l’œil food ideas via Yummly.

The article offers some great ways to fool unsuspecting diners with items that look like one dish but are actually other foods in disguise. A meatloaf cake, “mud” pies, and crisped rice cereal “sushi” are all tongue-in-cheek ways to celebrate April Fool’s Day without being mean. Well, except for the plate of profiteroles that include one puff stuffed with wasabi – that is a tad on the mean side.

I have done a meatloaf cake before that was ‘iced’ with fluffy mashed potatoes, and it was well-received by my dinner guests, but I think I like the cupcake idea even better, because it disguises the potatoes better. Since we aren’t having company over this year, I will keep it simple by making an orange fool, which features one of my favorite flavor combinations. Did you spot any good April Fool’s pranks this year?

Photo of Trompe l’oeil bagels with cream cheese from Serious Eats