Meatloaf Cupcakes

As a tribute to April fools day I made the following meal for my family.  It was actually quite comical.  As soon as supper was placed in front of them they began to complain that they did not like eggs, and they were not going to eat them, it reminded me of Green Eggs and Ham (which we have been reading a lot lately).  Anyway after a little coaxing they decided to try them and then a happy grin spread over their faces.  They discovered that they egg was chocolate, and the bacon was caramels and tootsie rolls.  They can 'dessert', meatloaf cupcakes.  To my joy and surprise these were also devoured in record time.  It just goes to show you that it really is all in the presentation.

Meatloaf Cupcakes

Note:  This is the meatloaf recipe that I used.  Feel free to use one of your own favorites.

Ingredients

For the meatloaf:

2 pounds ground chicken
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
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten

For the sauce:

1/2 cup chili sauce
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard

For the potato “icing”:

3 cups boiled potatoes, chopped into 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.

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.  Chill while you prepare the sauce and potatoes.

Make the sauce by whisking the chili sauce, brown sugar and mustard together until smooth.  Set aside.

While the meat is baking, w hip the boiled potatoes together with the egg yolk, half and half or cream and salt until smooth.  Stir in the melted butter.  Fit a pastry bag with a large star tip and fill with the potato mixture.  Set aside, but do not refrigerate.

To assemble the cupcakes,  lightly spray a cupcake tin with nonstick cooking spray.  Fill each indentation with a small handful of the meat mixture, gently pressing it down until it is completely filled.

Spread a teaspoon of the sauce around the top of each cupcake, and bake for about 30 minutes, until the meat is cooked through.  Remove from the oven and turn on the broiler.

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, about 2 minutes.

Remove from the oven and enjoy.

Makes 12 meatloaf cupcakes.