I’ve been meaning to make meatloaf cupcakes for a while, but hadn’t had the right occasion. Yesterday was Valentine’s Day and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than with these deliciously meaty treats for my lover. After looking at many recipes, I did what I often do and combined two recipes to make one that I REALLY liked. My fiancé informed me that this is not necessarily for the beginner cook, but please don’t be afraid to try. They took about an hour to make, and were 100% worth it. We almost couldn’t get over how good they were. I have a feeling that these will be requested often! This recipe makes 12 meatloaf cupcakes.
I used recipes from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy and From Dahlias to Doxies while adding some of my own touches to come up with what were truly delicious meatloaf cupcakes.
Ingredients for the meatloaf:
Almost 1 lb ground beef
Almost 1 lb ground pork
1 small onion (small dice)
1 large tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Handful (a few large tablespoons) of fresh parsley – I prefer Italian flat leaf
3 tablespoons roasted red pepper from a jar (I had these sitting in the fridge and wanted to use them up, they’re not necessary to make this work)
3 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs
Sprinkle of salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil (for sautéing veggies)
For the drizzle:
3 tablespoons of Famous Dave’s Rich and Sassy (use whatever you have)
1 teaspoon Sriracha
The potatoes:
3 cups potatoes, chopped into medium chunks
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup half and half or heavy cream
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons melted butter
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Sauté the chopped onions and garlic over medium-low heat with a splash of olive oil until soft, set aside to cool a bit. Prepare the meatloaf by combining all ingredients together in a large bowl. Remove all valuable jewelry and get in there with your hands, mixing until incorporated. Don’t forget your onions and don’t fuss with the mixture too much, because you can turn it into meat bricks. Spray or lightly grease a twelve serving cupcake pan. Spoon the mixture into your cupcake pan, pressing ever so lightly into your desired shapes.
Prepare the sauce by whisking the Sriracha and BBQ sauce. Drizzle over the raw meat and pop in the oven. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
While the meat is baking, boil the potatoes (about 15 minutes). I put the cream, salt, egg yolk, and butter into the mixer so it was ready to be married with the cooked potatoes. Drain potatoes, whip all of this together and wait for your meat to be ready. Fit a pastry bag with a large star tip (I was out of pastry bags and used a large Ziploc) and when the potatoes are no longer at a bag-melting temperature, fill and set aside (do not refrigerate).
Remove your meatcakes from the oven and turn on the broiler. Using a fork I removed the meatcakes from the pan and placed on a cooling rack, just like real cupcakes! Pipe some potato “icing” on top of each cupcake. I used cracked black pepper and some bacon bits that were sitting in the fridge as sprinkles, it’s just a fun little extra that again, isn’t required to make these awesome. You can leave the cupcakes on the cooling rack, or move to a cookie sheet and broil for a few minutes until the potatoes are lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
Remove from the oven and see if you can stop yourself from eating any less than three! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Love,
Lisa and her meat cupcakes
