Meatloaf Cupcakes Are Freaking Me Out

At first these meatloaf cupcakes kinda freaked me out.  OK, they still kinda freak me out.  But I’ve decided–I could probably put away at least eleven of these bad boys.

Get the recipe from FineFuriousLife.com.

March 16, 2010 edit…

I get a ton of visitors for this post, but FineFuriousLife.com, unfortunately, exists no more.  I’ve managed to locate the original recipe from that site and included in this post.  Enjoy!

Originally posted on FineFuriousLife.com (5/14/2008)

Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato Frosting–Makes 12

INGREDIENTS

For the “cupcake”:
1/3 lb. ground veal
1/3 lb. ground chuck
1/3 lb. ground pork
1 small carrot, roughly chopped
1 small onion, roughly diced
2 stalks celery, roughly diced
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
2 eggs
Salt and pepper

For the “frosting”:
7.2oz box instant mashed potatoes
Milk, per package instructions
Butter, per package instructions
Beet juice from canned beets

To garnish:
Green pepper, very finely diced

METHOD

For the “cupcake”:
Preheat oven to 350F.

Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk and set aside.

Sweat the vegetables in olive oil until softened. Transfer to a deep bowl and use an immersion blender to puree; alternatively, puree in food processor.

Mix the three meats, eggs, breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley and vegetable puree in a large bowl until an even consistency is reached.

Place meat mixture in greased muffin tins and bake until brown and shrunken away from the sides, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from tin and cool on rack.

For the “frosting”:
Prepare one sachet of instant mashed potatoes according to package instructions. To prepare the other, substitute beet juice from canned beets for the water called for in the instructions. Allow to cool.

Transfer each batch of mashed potato into a separate pastry bag (or Ziploc bag with a snipped-off corner) with your favourite pastry tip. Pipe onto cupcakes and decorate with diced green pepper.

Reheat in oven or microwave before serving.