A Man's Cupcake

So a few months ago dear hubby went to a little get together with some of his best buddies. Me being the wife that I am and the cupcake fanatic I am I decided to send along some of my most favorite Chocolate Stout Cupcakes. Although all of the guys devoured them (like most people would), one of our good friends sent home a challenge made just for me. He requested at their next "man party" that I make Meatloaf Cupcakes with Brown Gravy and Mashed Potatoes. Well, that can't be too hard. Let's give it a shot. Now let me give you a little back ground here.

I, myself grew up on meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I've loved it since before I even knew what meatloaf was, and even after I knew I still love it. However, in my current household, I never get to make it. Dear hubby is anti-meatloaf, in fact he's anti-anything with the word loaf in it, kind of guy. Well, except for bread. Anyways, I rarely get the opportunity to make meatloaf so this challenge was not only exciting to figure out, but a scrumptious idea because, did I mention, I LOVE MEATLOAF!

I did some searching online and came across a website that I knew had to have tasty, sinful recipes on it, besides the name is http://www.stickygooeycreamychewy.com/ that just screams goodness! She infact had a meatloaf and mashed potatoes cupcake recipe. I headed right to the grocery and meat market! I used her recipe and changed it up a little bit to accomodate the request for brown gravy. Here's what we ended up with.

Meatloaf Cupcakes filled with brown gravy topped with mashed potates and more gravy. Oh yeah, and baked in bacon "cupcake liners"!

This recipe is very easy to follow. Here's their recipe with my changes added in.

For the meatloaf:

1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 small onion, grated
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup panko crumbs
2-3 splashes Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoons parsley
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten

For the sauce:

1 package brown gravy mix
1 cup of cold water

For the potato “icing”:

3 cups potatoes, chopped into chunks
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons melted butter

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Prepare the meatloaf by combining all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Mix until incorporated.  Don’t over handle the mixture or the meatloaf may be too dense. Lightly spray a cupcake tin with nonstick cooking spray.  Fill each cup with a small handful of the meat mixture, gently pressing it down until it is completely filled. (If you want the bacon "cupcake liners" simply cut a strip of bacon in half and make an "X" in the bottom of the cupcake tin pressing down gently and then add in the meatloaf mixture). Bake for 40 min or until the meat is cooked through.

While the meat is baking, boil the potatoes until tender, drain. Place potatoes back in pan or in a bowl and whip with egg yolk, heavy cream, salt and butter.  Fit a pastry bag with a large star or round tip (I had to use a round tip, I still had some chunks in my potatoes) and fill with the potato mixture. I placed the bag of potatoes in the fridge until the meatloaves were done.

On the stove combine the brown gravy mix and water according to the package directions. Let cool slightly.

Turn the broiler in the oven on and set the rack to the highest setting.

Using a sharp knife hollow out the center of each cupcake making a well to place some brown gravy in. Spoon about a teaspoon/tablespoon (whatever will fit without running out) into the well. Pipe some potato “icing” on top of each cupcake.  Put the cupcakes under the broiler for a few minutes until the potatoes are lightly browned.

Remove from the oven, drizzle some more gravy over the top if you so desire, and get ready to enjoy a most manly, fantastic meatloaf and mashed potatoes cupcake!

Makes 12-16 meatloaf cupcakes.

This meatloaf recipe was so good. It will be my go to recipe for those few times that I actually get to make it here at the Campbell House. Oh, and the verdict is still out on whether I won the challenge or not. I'm thinking I did, and I'm waiting to hear what the next challenge will be!

http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2011/01/20/meatloaf-cupcakes-recipe/