An April Fool's Day Tradition - Cupcakes for Dinner and Grilled Cheese for Dessert

When my youngest son was 5 years old, I thought it would be fun to surprise him with a special meal on the evening of April 1. Now, I’m not a culinary expert by any means, but I can find my way around a kitchen and put together interesting food when I really want to. I’d run across what seemed like a fun idea in Family Fun magazine and I put the plan into action early that morning.

As he was getting dressed for kindergarten, I told him that I couldn’t wait for him to get home that afternoon because I was going to cook a really cool dinner. Of course, there’s nothing like the curiosity of a 5-year-old, so he asked, “Whatcha making, Mom?” I grinned and told him, “We’re going to have cupcakes for dinner.” His blue eyes grew wide and he quickly exclaimed, “No way! You’d never let me have cupcakes for dinner!” “Just wait and see,” I said and I took him off to school.

Later that evening, I made sure he was outside playing with the neighbors while I put the finishing touches on our special meal. His reaction was priceless when he came in just as I was placing the pan of “cupcakes” on the table. I also told him that if he was a good boy and finished his whole cupcake and his green beans (yes, they were really green beans), that he could have a grilled cheese sandwich for dessert. By this time, my young son thought I had completely lost my mind.

We sat down at the table and I lifted a yellow-frosted cupcake onto his plate next to a small serving of green beans. Just as any child would, he immediately had a finger in the “frosting” and quickly stuck it in his mouth. “Mom,” he said hesitantly, “this frosting tastes like… like potatoes.” “Potatoes?” I retorted. “That doesn’t make sense. It’s frosting!” Afraid he’d hurt my feelings, he reacted quickly, “It’s ok, Mom. I like potatoes!” I could hardly contain my laughter at this point. He slowly peeled back the foil cupcake wrapper and stared silently for a moment. “Mom,” he began in a quiet voice, “why is there gravy on my cupcake?” I burst out laughing at that point and exclaimed, “April Fool!”

I explained to him that the “cupcakes” were really meatloaf, what he thought was gravy was merely a bit of the juice from the cooked meat, and his assessment of the “frosting” was correct – they were made of tinted mashed potatoes. We had a great laugh and enjoyed our dinner of meatloaf cupcakes. And, as promised, we had “grilled cheese sandwiches” for dessert – these were just toasted pound cake slices with orange frosting for the “cheese”.

Now, six years later, April Fool’s dinner has become a tradition in our house. Last year, I revived the meatloaf cupcakes for the benefit of my younger son, but surprised them both with a “cheeseburger and fries” for dessert. The fries were just slivers of pound cake with raspberry jam “ketchup”. The trick was serving it in a basket to add authenticity.

With April Fool’s Day creeping up on me, I’m still trying to find something new to fix for them this year. I’m open to suggestions!

Credits:

The cupcake recipe can be found at http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/colorful-cupcakes-686085/.

There are many versions of the cheeseburger cake recipe, but this is closest to what I made: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bacon-Cheeseburger-Cake/Detail.aspx