Fake Breakfast

If your kids are shopping around for the perfect prank to pull on their favorite April fool, this month's Cooking Class is sure to fit the bill.

We'll show you how to prepare a full breakfast that's not eggsactly what it seems. From Angel Food Toast Cake and Strawberry Ice-cream Ham to Fried Marshmallow Eggs and Whipped Cream Milk, this menu is guaranteed to surprise and delight.

Read on. We've got simple directions for all these fool-ish treats.

Angel Food Toast Cake:

Once your kids sample this cake (er, toast), they'll know how angel food got its name. With a flavor sweet enough to forgo frosting and an extralight texture, it's simply heavenly. What's more, if you bake it in a loaf pan instead of the typical angel food pan, it looks just like bread. Perfect for a meal in disguise.

KIDS' COOKING SKILLS: Use this recipe to teach your kids how to separate eggs and how to fold stiffly beaten egg whites into cake batter.

Ingredients

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup cake flour
8 egg whites (or enough to equal 1 cup)
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and flour and set aside.

Show your child how to separate yolks from egg whites either by hand or by using an egg separator placed atop a glass. One at a time, separate 8 eggs (or enough to equal 1 cup of egg whites). If an egg white is completely free of yolk, pour it into a clean bowl designated for egg whites only and transfer the yolk to another container. If a white is mixed with yolk, don't use it, as it will not whip well. Instead, add it to the yolk bowl to scramble later, or save it for a recipe that calls for whole eggs.

TIP: A plastic egg separator (sold for under $3 in most cooking supply or department stores) makes it easy for kids to successfully separate yolks from whites.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cup of pure egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until they are foamy.

TIP: When making angel food, beat the sweetened egg whites until stiff peaks form. Do not underbeat.

With the mixer at high speed, beat in the granulated sugar a little at a time, adding in the vanilla extract and salt with the last of it. Continue beating the mixture until it becomes stiff and glossy.

Now sprinkle the sifted confectioners' sugar and flour over the egg whites a little at a time, folding it in with a rubber spatula just until the dry mixture disappears.

Using the rubber spatula, transfer the batter to an ungreased loaf pan. Use a metal spatula or a butter knife to gently cut through the batter in the pan. This helps spread the batter evenly and collapses any air pockets below the surface.

Bake until the top splits open and the split dries (between 25 and 35 minutes). The top should also spring back when lightly pressed.

Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan. Note: to keep the middle from sinking as it cools, turn the pan upside down and balance the opposite ends on inverted coffee mugs. Finally, remove the cooled cake from the pan (you may need to loosen the sides with a plastic spatula) and cut it into slices with a bread knife (a parent's job).

Chocolate Butter Pats:

Place one of these pats on a slice of "toast," and you just won't believe it's not butter.

Ingredients

White baking chocolate, amount depends on number of diners

Directions

Spread a piece of aluminum foil on a flat working surface. Break a square of white baking chocolate into 2 pieces and place them a couple of inches apart in a small heavy saucepan.

Heat the white chocolate over low heat just until the edges start to melt. Use a plastic spatula to transfer the pats to the foil. Once they set, carefully peel away the foil.

Strawberry Ice-Cream Ham:

This menu item will give your kids a chance to really ham it up! For the best results, you'll want to prepare a slice the day before. When it's time to present the meal, add it to the plate at the last minute.

Ingredients

Half-gallon strawberry ice cream
Caramel candy (the kind with the white center)

Directions

First, cut or peel away the container from a half gallon of strawberry ice cream. With a long knife dipped in warm water, slice off a 1-inch-thick slab (a parent's job) and place it on a piece of waxed paper.

Press a caramel candy into the center of the ice-cream slab. If necessary, use a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon to smooth the ice cream and fill in any gaps around the "ham bone." Then shape the sides of the slab to resemble the rounded edge of a real ham steak.

Cover the slice with another piece of waxed paper and fold together the edges of both sheets so that the ice cream is wrapped. Store the wrapped slice in the freezer on a cookie sheet. To serve, gently peel the waxed paper from the bottom and set the slice, unwrapped side down, on a breakfast plate. Slowly peel away the second piece of waxed paper.

Fried Marshmallow Eggs:

There's no chance of breaking the yolks when you cook up these eggs. That's because they're actually dried apricots -- a tangy complement to the sweet marshmallow egg whites.

KIDS' COOKING SKILLS: Use this recipe as an opportunity to teach your kids how to melt butter and marshmallows in a saucepan.

Ingredients

2 tsp. butter
12 marshmallows
2 dried whole apricots

Directions

Place a piece of aluminum foil on a flat working surface and then grease the surface of the foil with 1 teaspoon of the butter.

In a small saucepan, melt the second teaspoon of butter over low heat. As soon as it has melted, add the marshmallows to the pan and turn up the heat to medium-low. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the marshmallows are completely melted and have just started to bubble.

Immediately remove the pan from the heat and spoon the melted marshmallow, in 2 separate blobs, onto the greased foil. You have to work fast, before the marshmallow begins to solidify again.

TIP: When spooning the melted marshmallow onto the greased foil, work quickly, using the back of the spoon to spread out the "egg white" a bit.

Shape 2 dried whole apricots and gently press each one, rounded side up, into the center of a marshmallow blob.

TIP: To make a dried apricot look just like a dome-shaped egg yolk, use your thumbs to push the center of the fruit until it is concave.

When the marshmallow has set enough to hold together, but before it stiffens too much, use a spatula to transfer the eggs to a breakfast plate.

TIP: Once the candy eggs have set, insert a plastic spatula beneath each one and, at the same time, use your fingers to gently peel the marshmallow from the foil.

Whipped Cream Milk:

Tip the glass, and this milk won't spill. But it's great for spooning onto ice-cream ham.

Ingredients

3/4 cup of whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Directions

In a chilled mixing bowl, with an electric mixer at high speed, beat together the whipping cream, the sugar, and the vanilla extract until it's fluffy but not too stiff. Makes about 1 cup -- enough to fill a glass.