Meatloaf that looks like cupcakes?! Prank your plate for April Fool’s Day -- but how?



MILWAUKEE -- April Fool's Day is this weekend...have any tricks up your sleeve? You could prank your family and friends' plates! Chef Alisa Malavenda joins Real Milwaukee with main dishes that look more like desserts and vice versa.

Breakfast Fun

Soft Boiled Egg and Toast:


    Pot Stickers with Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce

    **For this you need a little dumpling maker ( Available on amazon or at an Asian Grocery)

    White Bread or other soft bread

    Creamy peanut butter

    Round cookie cutter

    Apricot jam


      Fried Chicken Basket with Baked Beans and French Fries:

      For Chicken:


        Melt while chocolate. Break pretzel rods in half. On the unbroken end dip 2 mini marshmallows in melted chocolate and secure to end of pretzel. Let dry.

        Then coat half the pretzel in white chocolate and let dry . Repeat with remaining pretzel rods.

        While they are drying, make rice krispie treats by melting butter and marshmallows in a microwave for about 1 minute. Depending on your microwave you may have to zap for another 30 sec.

        Add rice cereal and mix coating all of the cereal. Let cool a few minutes.

        Grease hands with oil or cooking spray and mold rice krispie treats around pretzel rods to form drum stick working quickly. When cool , dip treat into white chocolate and roll in crushed bran flakes.

        For French fries:


          For Bakes Beans:


            Edible Coca Cola


              In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1 cup cola, let stand for a minute.

              Bring remaining cola to a boil and stir in gelatin mixture until dissolved. Pour into glasses, insert straw.  Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight- covered.

              Not So “Chicken Pot Pie”


                Preheat oven to 400 degrees – unroll pie crust and place on bottom of foil tin. Or cut circles to place in individual ones. Pierce with a fork. Roll a ball about 2 inch size aluminum foil and place on baking sheet. Cut another circle for the top of pie and either create a hole in middle or lattice work top. Place top circle over aluminum foil, brush with egg wash and  bake crust in oven approximately 10-15 minutes until golden. Cool on rack.

                To make filling:

                Prepare pudding and refrigerate. Make fake chicken and vegetables

                Place starbursts unwrapped in microwave for about 10 seconds just until warm. Mold them to look like diced carrots and corn. Use the m&ms or green tootsie rolls to make peas. Dice the bananas to look like potatoes and chop white chocolate for the chicken 9 you can also use dried apples.

                Fill the bottom crust in the tin and set the other circle on top.

                Grilled Cheese Sandwich


                  Slice pound cake long and then in half to resemble each half of the sandwich. Lightly butter pound cake or bread on both sides and cook in a hot skillet until golden brown on each side. Let cool.

                  Meanwhile, color frosting to resemble American or Velveeta cheese. When cake is cool, spread a layer of frosting on one slice and top with other slice of cake.

                  Moving on to “dessert” – Your kids will be confused when you serve them cupcakes and sundaes for dinner

                  “Cupcakes”


                    Mix ground beef, onions, garlic, Worcestershire, stock , salt and pepper

                    In a bowl. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and beaten egg ; mix just until it is combined ( do not over mix)

                    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ketchup, brown sugar and bacon bits in a small bowl. Spoon a layer of ketchup mixture into the bottom of foil lined cupcake liners. Fill the liners with meat mixture, but leave a space of about ½ inch from top of liner.

                    Cook between 35-45 minutes . Remove from oven and drain fat from muffin cups

                    In a bowl combine mashed potatoes with food dye and mix well. Add to pastry bag with a star tip.

                    Top each “cup cake “ with mashed potatoes and a sprinkle of flaked sea salt.

                    Sundaes  with a “cherry on top”


                      Bagel and Lox Petit Cake

                      Make an inside out bagel and lox

                      Slice mini bagel in half and  smear a layer of cream cheese on the bottom and the top of bagel( not the cut side Add a thin slice of salmon and 1 t capers and close the inside out sandwich so the cut sides of the bagel are now the top and bottom. “Ice” the whole bagel with whipped cream cheese.