Anna Happy April Fools! I love playing jokes on April Fools Day! It is even better when you can make pranks that are absolutely delicious.
Introducing Zapple Pie (otherwise known as zucchini pie)
ZUCCHINI PIE? Yup! You heard me! Growing up, I had a friend who hated zucchini with a passion. He claimed it made him throw up. As a prank for his birthday, his mom gave me permission to test this theory. My mom got a recipe from a family friend for zucchini cobbler. We baked this baby up, and he loved it! He ate three slices before we told him. The disbelief, confusion, and betrayal of his taste buds was the funniest memory!
Upgrading the Zapple Pie
Fast forward to today, and I am now married to an amazing man who also hates zucchini. Sooo what better prank to pull than faux apple pie! His reaction upon learning that his taste buds betrayed him was a priceless!
I am still working on perfecting this recipe, but here are some tips to get you started on making the perfect prank pie!
Step 1: Make Zucchini Less Like a Zucchini
It took a few tries to make a zucchini pie that did not taste like a mouthful of weirdly sugary squash. I read several recipes and tried a few, but overall was not impressed as I once was. Most recipes tell you to slice the zucchini like half moons and they will look exactly like apple slices….lies! All lies! When the test pie came out of the oven it looked like a squash pie and the texture was a squash pie. It was not fooling anyone!
Tip 1: Remove all green from the zucchini
The first time I peeled the zucchini I removed the skin but there was still a faint tinge of green. Even when the zucchini was cooked, you could still tell it looked like zucchini. You could say, “It’s a granny smith apple!” But that still wouldn’t fool anyone. Like the saying says, “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…it’s probably a duck.”
Step 2: Texture Matters
Tip 2: Use a spoon to remove all the seeds from the zucchini.
I tried to leave as much of the zucchini as possible, and some of the seeds stayed on the vegetable. BIG mistake. Again, even after cooking down, it still looked suspiciously like zucchini. Take the time to remove all the seeds. It messes up the texture and will make anyone skeptical.
Step 3: Texture REALLY Matters!
Tip 3: Dice the zucchini!
I tried chopping it roughly, but again, you get a slight squashy texture if the pieces are too thick. If you chop it about 1/4 inch thick, you avoid the squash texture.
While this zucchini pie recipe is still a work in progress, It got me thinking. What other vegetables can be turned into desserts? What weird vegetable should I try next? Drop a comment and tell me what kind of vegetable I should try making into a dessert. Happy April Fools Day!
