This cake is not your traditional cake. It’s actually a meatloaf frosted in mashed potatoes, topped with grape tomatoes. Did I get ya?
It was never my intention to actually serve this to anyone and fool them. That would be a cruel trick! I was really just looking for something I could keep in the fridge and eat for dinner last week after nights spent at cake decorating class. I never imagined my boyfriend, Chris, would help himself to a slice after returning home after a weekend trip. He thought he would just grab a small sliver of cake after his late night dinner. He thought the “cake” looked funny, but dug in anyway. Well, he was in for a surprise. Unfortunately I was sleeping when all this went down. I so wish I had witnessed his reaction.
I didn’t invent the idea of the April Fools’ Cake. Just do some Google searches and you’ll see some really convincing versions. Some are baked in round pans. I considered it, I have a special meatloaf pan from Williams Sonoma that has a nice insert that allows some of the fat to drain out of the meatloaf. I just love it, so I decided to go with a loaf cake.
My favorite kind of meatloaf is made from the recipe found on onion soup packets. You can’t go wrong with it. I used 1 lb ground turkey and 1 lb ground beef for the mix and used seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs.
I mixed it all together and patted it into the pan.
It baked in about 50 minutes. I let it cool and drain on a rack with paper towels underneath, patted it dry, and transferred it to a plate. In the meantime, I prepared some instant mashed potatoes.
My mashed potatoes were cheddar flavored, hence the yellow tinge in the “frosting”. If I was more meticulous about fooling anyone with this cake, I should have used plain mashed potatoes.
I continued frosting with an offset spatula until the meatloaf was completely covered and smooth.
I was so eager to attend cake decorating class that next day, I did a little piping on the cake for practice. It’s pretty amazing how well warm mashed potatoes will pipe! I topped it off with grape tomatoes cut in half. It was very delicious and made for good leftovers. It’s a meal in a slice!
