A selection of the best April Fools' pranks of 2021
Did you fall for any of these?
Last updated 1st Apr 2021
It's that time of year again, and it's safe to say that we could all do with a laugh right now! As April Fools' Day 2021 officially draws to a close, we've gathered together some of the biggest and best pranks played on us all today.
From celebs to huge corporations, there's been plenty of crazy information flying around the internet today. Can this year's posts beat some of the best from last year? Let us not forget the iconic Cadbury Creme Egg-flavoured Heinz mayo, or Holly Willoughby reducing a This Morning guest to tears!
ASDA's Weetabix and Heinz Beans
Starting off the list is ASDA's 'exclusive' collab between Weetabix and Heinz Baked Beans, combining the two breakfast snacks conveniently in one can. Despite being packed with protein and being priced at only 50p, we think we'll give this one a miss...
Ant and Dec became Dec and Ant
Would April Fools' Day 2021 have even been complete without a cheeky prank from this Geordie duo? Taking to their Instagram, Ant and Dec announced this morning that they were in need of a change and were to now be officially referred to as 'Dec & Ant'.
Not quite as catchy, but we're sure we'll get used to it.
Peaky Blinders new cast member
Joining the list of pranks is Cbeebies actor/presenter Rebecca Keatley, who announced today that she would be joining the cast of Peaky Blinders for the sixth and final season of the show. Cbeebies announced the news on their Facebook, as well as Rebecca sharing it on her own social media platforms.
Making the prank that bit more believable, the official Peaky Blinders Facebook page even re-shared the post, tricking fans into thinking they were getting another sneak peak into the upcoming season.
Subway's coriander cookie
Also joining in on the fun was Subway Australia, who announced they would be launching a brand new, scrumptious, Coriander Cookie! Branding the snack as being 'here for a good time not a long time', it's safe to say that most of us are pretty glad to see this one go...
Sainsburys Free From Coriander range
It seems Coriander is no laughing matter for Sainsburys, who took to their Instagram this morning to announce their new range of foods entirely free from the herb, which some fine to taste soap-like.
Robinsons turns Wimbledon purple
Purple is the new green this year - well, according to Robinsons anyhow. The squash company took to their Instagram this morning to announce that in celebration of the launch of their new blackcurrant juice, they have taken the liberty of dying the whole of the Wimbledon Centre Court purple. A lovely touch, we think.
Madame Tussauds Sydney's talking Karen
Bringing 2020 memes to life this year was Madame Tussauds Sydney, who announced on their Instagram that they were unveiling a brand new speaking wax model named Karen. They even added to the fun by asking the public to submit what they think the model should say, as well as revealing that anyone named Karen would gain free entry to the Sydney venue from 1st-4th April 2021.
Despite revealing that the new figure was in fact an April Fool, the iconic celeb museum seem to be holding true to their offer of free entry to those named Karen, in their Sydney venue.
Lipton’s Self-jiggling Bag
Do you love a cuppa, but hate having to make it? Lipton have got you covered. This forward thinking invention cuts out the struggle of dipping your teabag and mixing in the milk, with the self-jigging bag - and by the looks of it, the bag even clears itself away afterwards.
Keepmoat's instant tea tap
Speaking of tea, if the self-jiggling bag isn't easy enough for you, how about installing an instant tea tap? Thanks to Keepmoat Homes, you can now ditch the kettle and have cuppas on demand with their new instant hot tea tap.
Birds Eye and Morphy Richards Waffles Only Toaster
An iconic collab between Birds Eye and Morphy Richards sees the world's first purpose built, waffles only, toaster. The innovative gizmo even plays the 'Waffly Versatile jingle' as your potato snacks cook to perfection - what more could you want?
Duolingo toilet roll
After finding out that just under 70% of language learners have completed their Duolingo language lessons on the toilet, the brand have taken action in a very fitting way. Fooling their many followers this morning, Duolingo announced that they would be launching toilet roll that teaches you new languages!
Heinz and Innocent Smoothie's Smoup
Cream of strawberry, anyone? Heinz and Innocent Smoothie have teamed up to bring us the ultimate way of gaining our five-a-day.
Maoam Stripes Chew Infinity
We're getting serious Willy Wonka vibes from this one, as Maoam took to their Instagram to announce their brand new infinity chew. Sharing the new, dare we say 'ever-lasting', sweet on their Instagram, Maoam wrote, 'The long-lasting flavour and chew just got even looooooooonger' (sic). A fitting lockdown snack, it would seem...
We Buy Any Cozy Coupe
Webuyanycar.com had a few of us going with this one! Giving the kids a chance to sell on their used cars, the site announced that thanks to a collaboration with Little Tikes, they were now accepting Cozy Coupes - with free valuations, too!
WheyHey 2020 lockdown flavoured ice creams
Cast your minds back to that very first 2020 lockdown, as WheyHey ice cream takes you on a journey packed with banana bread, sourdough and, of course, dalogna coffee - or as we like to call it, that whipped coffee from TikTok.
Piers Morgan returns to Good Morning Britain
After making his dramatic exit from the show in March, Piers Morgan caused quite the stir this morning when he announced that he would be returning to the show next week! The announcement caused quite the stir, with many fans believing Pier's update - hope they're not disappointed on Monday...
Paddington Bear no longer likes marmalade
Shocking the nation, Paddington announced that he no longer enjoys sweet and citrusy marmalade.
The short and blunt announcement was made on Twitter this morning, with one fan even responding, 'paddington say april fools right now or i’ll cry' (sic).
Malibu's MaliMoo cans
After teasing a new product launch last night (31st March), Malibu announced this morning that they would be releasing a brand new canned cocktail flavour, MaliMoo - a luscious combo of Malibu rum and milk, pre-mixed in a can for your enjoyment.
Despite this one getting keen Malibu fans thinking that this might actually be a rather nice drink in itself, Malibu took to their Instagram to post once more about the new drink after 12pm, getting fans thinking that this might just be real...
They also later took to their story to write, 'Can assure you all it's a real thing!' (sic), making some fans even more certain that it was in fact a real product launch, albeit oddly timed.
As it's Easter Weekend why not try out these tasty looking recipes that certainly aren't April Fools jokes...
Easter Egg Nests
Ingredients
225g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp golden syrup
50g butter
75g cornflakes
36 mini chocolate eggs
Method
Line a 12-hole fairy cake tin with paper cases.
Melt the chocolate, golden syrup and butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water). Stir the mixture until smooth.
Remove the bowl from the heat and gently stir in the cornflakes until all of the cereal is coated in the chocolate.
Divide the mixture between the paper cases and press 3 chocolate eggs into the centre of each nest. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour, or until completely set.
Recipe from: BBC Food
Crème Egg Brownies
Ingredients
185g unsalted butter
185g best dark chocolate
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar
6 cadbury's Crème Eggs, cut in half
Method
Preheat the oven to 160c and grease a 20cm square baking tin.
Melt the butter and dark chocolate together either in the microwave or in a bowl over hot water.
Break 3 large eggs into a large bowl and tip in 275g of golden caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar until they look thick and creamy, like a milkshake! This can take 3-8 minutes. TIP, you'll know its ready when the mixture becomes pale and about double it's original volume.
Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together.
Hold a sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and sift the cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover the top evenly. Gently, fold in the mixture.
Pour into the baking tin and cook for 15 minutes then take it our of the oven and gently press the Cadbury's Crème Egg halves into the mix spacing them apart evenly. Put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.
Leave to cool before removing from the tin and cutting.
Recipe from: BBC Good Food
Image from: basementbakery15
Easter Biscuits
Ingredients
200g butter
200g caster sugar
1 egg
400g plain flour
250g royal icing sugar
Assorted food colourings
Method
Place the butter in a large mixing bowl with the caster sugar. Using a wooden spoon beat until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the egg until well mixed, then gradually add the flour. Use your hands to bring the mixture together to a stiff dough. Gather into a ball and chill for 30 mins.
Heat the oven to gas 4, 180°C, fan 160°C. Roll out the dough on a work surface lightly dusted with flour until it's the thickness of a £1 coin. Using an oval cutter (or a cardboard egg-shaped template), cut out egg-shaped biscuits, using rolled out trimmings to make more. Place on baking trays and bake in the oven for 6-10 mins, depending on size, until just golden brown.
Allow to cool for 5 mins before removing from the baking tray to cool completely.
To decorate, make up the icing as directed on the packet. Divide between 3-4 bowls adding a little food colouring to each bowl. Place the mixture into piping bags and decorate biscuits as liked - kids may like to use sprinkles or sweets too.
The cookies between one and two weeks when stored in a sealed cake tin.
Recipe from: Tesco Real Food
Cadbury Creme Egg Fudge
Ingredients
300g caster sugar
300ml double cream
100g butter
75g dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 crème eggs
Method
Line a shallow baking tin 16cm x 24cm with baking parchment.
Put the sugar, cream and butter in a large pan and heat gently, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Make sure you don't leave any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan as this will affect the texture of the fudge, so brush them down with a pastry brush if need be.
Turn up the heat and boil for 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly to ensure it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan, until the fudge reaches 115°C on a sugar thermometer.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate and vanilla extract. Beat well with a wooden spoon or hand held electric whisk for 5-10 minutes until it thickens and loses its shine.
Pour into the baking tin and leave to cool for about 15 minutes. Cut the crème eggs into pieces and lightly press into the top of the fudge then leave to cool completely.
Cut into 2.5cm squares.
Recipe from: Cadbury Creme Egg Cookbook
Easter Cup Cakes
Ingredients
115g Stork tub
115g caster sugar
2 large eggs
115g self-raising flour, sieved with 1 tablespoon cocoa and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
For the icing
85g Stork tub
1-2 tablespoons milk
225g icing sugar (less 1 tablespoon), sieved
1 heaped tablespoon cocoa
100g mini chocolate eggs
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 190°C, 170°C Fan, Gas 5.
Put all the cake ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon for 2 - 3 minutes until gooey and well combined.
Spoon the mixture into 18-20 paper cases or 12-14 muffin cases placed in patty tins.
Place them on the second from top shelf of your pre-heated oven and bake for 15 - 20 minutes.
Take your cakes out and leave them to cool on a wire rack.
Beat all your icing ingredients together in a mixing bowl until smooth.
Spread or pipe the mixture over each cake to form a little nest, and pop a few chocolate eggs inside.
Recipe from: Food Network
Easter Rocky Road
Ingredients
225g dark chocolate broken into pieces
100g unsalted butter, cubed
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp golden syrup
100g rich tea biscuits
50g mini marshmallows
50g dried cranberries
200g chocolate mini eggs
Method
Line a 20 x 30cm traybake tin with 2 sheets of cling film (in a criss-cross pattern). Put the chocolate and butter in a large bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water, and melt until smooth and glossy.
Remove from the heat and add the cocoa powder and golden syrup. Mix together until fully combined and leave to cool at room temperature for about 15 mins.
Put the biscuits in a freezer bag and use a rolling pin to bash them, leaving some pieces chunkier than others. Stir into the cooled chocolate with the marshmallows, cranberries and 150g of the mini eggs.
Pour the mix into the tin and press down with the back of a spoon until even. Scatter over the remaining mini eggs, pressing them in a little, and leave to set in the fridge for 1 hour.
Remove from the tin and cut into bars to serve. Will keep for up to 1 week in an airtight container.
Recipe from: BBC Good Food
Hot cross buns
Ingredients
200ml semi-skimmed milk
55g unsalted butter
2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
455g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
55g caster sugar
2 balls of stem ginger, finely chopped
1 large egg, beaten
55g sultanas
30g dried cranberries
2 tablespoons mixed peel
2 tablespoons plain flour
Runny honey
Method
Add the milk and 50ml water to a small pan and warm over a low heat for a few minutes; you should be able to dip your finger in without scalding it.
Add the butter to a separate pan, melt over a low heat, then set aside.
Transfer the warmed milk mixture to a medium bowl and stir in the yeast.
Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the sea salt, spices and sugar, then stir the chopped stem ginger into the mix.
Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and pour in the melted butter, followed by the yeast mixture, then the beaten egg.
Using a fork, mix well until you have a rough dough. Transfer the dough to a clean, flour-dusted work surface and knead for around 10 minutes, or until soft and springy.
Return the dough to a flour-dusted bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove in a warm place for at least an hour, or until doubled in size.
Transfer the dough to a clean, flour-dusted work surface. Knock the air out by bashing it with your fist, then sprinkle over the dried fruit and mixed peel, and knead into the dough for 1 to 2 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Grease and line a large baking tray.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each into a ball, evenly spacing them out on the tray as you go.
Cover with the tea towel and leave in a warm place for a further 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Place the plain flour and 2 tablespoons water into a small bowl and mix to a thick paste.
Gently pat down the risen buns then use the batter to carefully trace a cross over the top with a piping bag or spoon.
Place the buns into the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Transfer to a wire cooling rack, brush over a little honey to glaze, then leave to cool.
Slice open the sticky hot cross buns, spread with a little butter and serve – delicious!
Cadbury Creme Egg Chocolate Roulade
Ingredients
For the sponge
6 eggs
175g caster sugar
175g plain chocolate, melted and cooled
For the filling
250ml double cream
2 crème eggs
For the drizzle
25ml double cream
1 crème egg
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6 and grease and base line a 20cm x 30cm swiss roll tin with baking parchment.
For the sponge, put the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl and with a hand held mixer whisk for around 5 minutes until the mix becomes very pale and thick and leaves a ribbon like trail when you lift the mixer from the bowl.
Gently fold the cooled chocolate into the mix then spoon into the prepared tin, spread it right to the corners smoothing the top as you go and bake in the oven until firm to the touch and starting to shrink away from the edges.
Remove from the oven, cover with a clean tea towel and place on a wire rack and leave to cool completely in the tin.
Make the chocolate drizzle by heating the cream and the chopped crème egg in small pan until the eggs start to melt and the mix begins to bubble. Remove from the heat, whisk until smooth and pour into a bowl and leave to cool.
Whip the cream for the filling in a large mixing bowl until you have soft peaks, then gently fold in the remaining 2 crème eggs, chopped into small pieces.
Turn the cooled sponge onto a sheet of baking parchment, spread the whipped cream over, leaving a 1 cm gap at the edges. Starting from a short edge roll the sponge up using the sheet of baking parchment to help you.
Place on a serving plate with the fold at the base and drizzle with the chocolate sauce.
Cut into slices and serve.
Recipe from: Cadbury Creme Egg Cookbook
Easter Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
250 grams dark chocolate (chopped)
125 grams unsalted butter (softened)
6 medium eggs (2 whole, 4 separated)
175 grams caster sugar (75g / 1/3 cup for yolk mixture, 100g / 2/3 cup for whites)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
FOR THE TOPPING
125 grams dark chocolate (chopped)
250 millilitres double cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 packet chocolate mini eggs (for decorating)
Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C/160°C Fan/350°F.
Line the bottom of a cake tin with baking parchment.
Melt the 250g chocolate with the butter in either a double boiler or a microwave and then set aside to cool slightly.
Whisk the 4 egg whites until firm, then gradually add the 100g of sugar and whisk until the whites are holding their shape and peak gleamingly - but not stiff.
Remove this bowl and set aside while you whisk, in another bowl, the 2 whole eggs and 4 yolks with the 75g of sugar and the vanilla extract, and then gently fold in the chocolate mixture. Lighten the mixture with some egg whites - just dollop a large spoonful in and stir briskly - and then fold in the rest of the whisked whites gently, in about three goes.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is risen and cracked and the centre is no longer wobbly on the surface. Cool the cake in its tin on a wire rack; the middle will sink as it cools and the sides splinter. You want this to look like a cake with a crater in it.
Remove the cake from the tin and place it on a plate or cake-stand, not worrying if bits fall off.
Melt the chocolate for the topping and leave it to cool a little. Whip the cream until it is firming up and aerated but still soft, and then add the vanilla and fold in the melted chocolate. Fill the crater of the cake with the chocolatey cream, easing it out gently towards the edges of the cake with a rubber spatula, and then arrange the little sugar Easter eggs on top.
Recipe from: Nigella Lawson
Cadbury Creme Egg Millionaire’s Shortbread
Ingredients
For the shortbread
75g sugar
150g butter
225g plain flour
For the caramel layer
100g butter
50g golden syrup
150g caster sugar
397g can condensed milk
For the chocolate topping
100g dark chocolate
50g milk chocolate
2 crème eggs
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4 and line a baking tin 18cm x 28cm with non-stick baking parchment.
To make the shortbread, cream together the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy then add the flour and mix to form a soft dough. Tip into the baking tin and with your fingertips, spread out to cover the base of the tin in an even layer. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden, then remove and set aside to cool.
Next make the caramel. Add all the ingredients to a medium saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved, stirring occasionally. Increase the heat and bring the caramel to the boil and bubble for 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens and turns a golden caramel colour.
Pour onto the shortbread and smooth to cover in an even layer, leave in the fridge for a couple of hours until set.
For the chocolate topping, break the dark and milk chocolates into small pieces and melt in a bowl in the microwave or over a pan of gently simmering water. Melt until completely smooth and pour over the caramel layer, tapping the tin on the work surface so that it settles in an even layer.
Top with chopped crème egg pieces and then with the tip of a knife swirl the pieces into the chocolate slightly. Leave to cool completely before cutting into squares with a sharp knife.
Recipe from: Cadbury Creme Egg Cookbook
Now read:
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