Meatloaf Cupcakes

Food should be fun. Both to look at and to eat. Most days I don't have a lot of time to make fun foods but I managed to get half a day to myself recently and decided to try an idea that I've been toying with for a while.

Meatloaf cupcakes!!!

I've now made these twice and they seem to be a big hit with Hubby and The Little Man (who loves traditional cupcakes more than any kid should). Also note I never use the same recipe for anything twice in a row. I'm more a "use what I can find in the fridge" cook. So consider this recipe more as a guide and feel free to modify as necessary. Recipe makes 12 cupcakes in a regular sized muffin tray.

Ingredients for the Cupcakes:

• 1kg of Mince Meat (I used 500g Pork and 500g beef)
• Worchestershire Sauce
• 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce
• 1 Red Capsicum
• 1 Onion
• 1 Handful of chopped mushrooms
• 2 Eggs
• 1.5 cups of Rolled Oats (Or breadcrumbs but I found oats give a better texture. The home brand cheap stuff works well in this recipe)
• Handful of Parsley
• Generous pinch of rosemary
• Salt and Pepper

Ingredients for the Frosting:

• 1kg of Potatoes (the kinds that are good for creamy mash)
• 1 cup of shredded cheese
• 25-100g of butter (Ok the more the better but I feel guilty so I usually just use 25-50g but always wish I added more.
• 1/2 cup of cream or milk
• 1 Teaspoon of minced garlic
• Pinch of salt
• Generous sprinkling of  chopped dill and paprika (I add this at the end so it look like sprinkles on the cupcake frosting)

Method:

Potatoes first because you want to give them time to cool before piping onto the cupcakes.

Steam or boil peeled potatoes. I prefer to steam because it takes less water and therefore comes to a boil faster and I'm quite impatient to wait for water to boil. Also you don't risk scalding yourself when you try and tip out a pot of boiling water to get at the potatoes. 

Mash and whisk potatoes with all the other frosting ingredients except the dill and paprika (while warm) to make cheesy creamy mash potatoes. Put aside to cool.

Mix all the cupcake ingredients in a large bowl. You can use a spoon but it would take forever. It is much faster (and way more fun) to use your hands and get into it. Make sure all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed up.

Grab a good handful and roll into a ball. Remember unlike normal cupcakes these don't rise in the baking so make the top nice and round to get a muffin top and press it into the muffin tray to get the base shape. 

Bake in the oven for 20 mins at about 120-150 degrees until top browns. Stick a skewer into it to make sure it's cooked through. Remove from muffin tray and 

Spoon frosting into a piping bag (I don't own one so I used a Ziploc sandwich bag and snipped the end off).   Pipe frosting on top of the cupcakes. Sprinkle dill and paprika over the top of the frosting to look like sprinkles and then top with a cherry tomato. Other modifications can be to swirl barbecue sauce or caramel balsamic over the top like chocolate sauce or tomato sauce tastes pretty good too.

This isn't the first time I have ventured into the whimsical world of meaty desserts. Whilst at university I was tasked with bringing a dessert to a meatlovers fiesta where the one rule is that every dish had to have meat as the major ingredient. I found a recipe for  Chocolate beef brownies for people with nut allergies to simulate a walnut brownie. It was a big hit. 

Anyway I hope some of you get a chance to try this recipe. I'm trying to plan a upside down meal where the Entree looks like the main and the Main looks like a dessert and the Dessert looks like an Entree, but I'm still stuck for an idea of what Entree looks like a Main. I've got an idea for a Dessert that looks like Sausages (Baked fruit pudding) and Mash (Apple puree) but I haven't had the chance to try it yet.

Anyone have ideas for crazy reversed meals? I'd love to hear your ideas.