April Fools’ Day Dinner: Meatloaf “Cupcakes” with Mashed Potato “Frosting”

So, when I was planning my meals for the week I asked for suggestions for something fun for our April Fools' Day dinner.  Renee sent me to Cupcakes and Swirls where they'd made these cute little Meatloaf and Mashed Potato "Cupcakes".  I'm not such a meatloaf fan myself, but since my kids had recently expressed interest in trying it, I thought it'd be the perfect April Fools trick to play on my family!    The best part about this funny trick is that once they got over the shock that they weren't really getting their dessert first, they actually really liked the meatloaf/mashed potato combination!  Of course it also helped that they got their real April Fool dessert ("mashed potato" cupcakes)  or "Hamburger" Cookies afterward!   If you have your own favorite meatloaf or mashed potato recipes, you can go ahead and use your tried and true favorites!  Have fun!   



We were in a hurry when we made these, so we didn’t put much effort into making the “frosting” look very pretty, but if you get the mashed potatoes the right consistency, you can make them look as fancy (or non-fancy in our case) as you would normally make cupcakes. 

Click here for printable recipe.

The ingredients:

MEATLOAF CUPCAKES:
1 lb. lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I used plain breadcrumbs with a teaspoon of oregano)
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
3 Tbs. ketchup
1 egg
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
12 foil cupcake liners

MASHED POTATO "FROSTING":
4 medium russet potatoes, washed and peeled
4 Tbs.  unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
food coloring, if desired


Directions:   Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 muffin tin cups with foil bake cups.  In a large bowl, mix together all of the meat loaf ingredients until well combined.

Divide the mixture evenly among the lined cups (the liners should be about three quarters full).  Place the filled muffin tins on cookie sheets and bake the cupcakes for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.  

While the meatloaf cupcakes are baking, cut the peeled potatoes into smaller, equal pieces. Place in a pot with water covering the potatoes. Cook over medium to high heat, bringing to a boil. Continue boiling, about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife.  Drain water from potatoes, add butter, milk, salt and pepper. Beat with an electric mixer, until nice and smooth.    Divide the mashed potatoes among three small bowls and stir a few drops of food coloring into each batch to create blue, yellow, and pink pastel frostings. Spread a generous dollop on each cupcake.

You can also pipe the mashed potatoes on, the same as you would do with frosting, but we were lazy and did it the easy way.     Makes 12 "cupcakes". 

Serve warm and make sure you have some real dessert for them afterward.  :) 

Enjoy!