Meatloaf Bakery

I like Meatloaf and I like cupcakes but I will admit that I felt a little leery when I first heard about The Meatloaf Bakery. Who would think of meatloaf cupcakes? There doesn't seem to really be anywhere the two could connect. Admittedly, the cupcakes made here are not a combination of the two ideas but are just individual meatloafs in the shape of cupcakes. The "cake" portion is a ground meat combination of some sort like a meatloaf and while the toppings vary, they are also savory, many using mashed potatoes, cheese, pasta, vegetables, or a combination. I had been by the place several times because it is close to a favorite record store of mine but I couldn't wrap my head around the idea so I didn't actually try any until I happened to encounter them at a local beer festival. I then found that they were just meatloafs shaped like cupcakes and decided to try them out. They have several different types of cupcakes so going there for a single cupcake seemed a bit of a waste. Cupcakes though, are good for sharing and I have a large family so I waited until a family event to buy a bunch so I would be able to try a bunch at once without having to gorge myself or letting a few sit for potentially several days. I actually did this twice although I only took pictures once because I repeated all of the cupcakes that I got the first time (adding one more the second time that actually looked a lot like one of the other cupcakes).

So on to the individual cupcakes. The first cupcake I will talk about is the Mother Loaf. It is the upper right cupcake in the picture. It's a fairly standard, albeit fancy, meatloaf. It is made with beef, pork, and veal with onions and ketchup and topped with mashed potatoes and chives. It tasted like a very good meatloaf. The texture was a little loose so it was much easier to eat with a knife and fork than to try to eat it with your hands but in any case it tasted very good and is a good gateway to introduce people to meatloaf cupcakes.

Below the Mother Loaf in the picture is the No Buns About It Burger Loaf. This is essentially a bacon cheeseburger meatloaf and it was really good! It had everything you would expect from a bacon cheeseburger: a good beef base with bacon, cheddar, onions, mustard, and pickles mixed together with it. It was topped with whipped cheddar mashed potatoes. This was actually one of my favorites.

At the bottom of the picture is the Wing and a Prayer Loaf. If you like spicy buffalo chicken wings, this one is for you. It is a spicy buffalo chicken wing loaf with ground chicken and celery with a spicy wing sauce and lots of crumbled blue cheese and topped with a buttery blue cheese crust. This was actually a little more firm than the previous two so if you really wanted to eat it with your hands you could (although I still wouldn't recommend it). Admittedly, I was a little unsure about the idea of ground chicken but it was good.

The cupcake that looks like it's topped with spaghetti is called the Loaf-A-Roma and yes, it is topped with spaghetti. The loaf is italian sausage and beef with mozzarella cheese and red wine and the spaghetti topping has more mozzarella, basil, and sun-dried tomatoes. While I like this, I like basil and think that wine can improve the flavor of some dishes. The wine flavor though, is fairly prominent so if you don't like wine, this might not be your cupcake.

The final cupcake in the picture is called the Yentl Lentl Loaf and it is a vegetarian loaf. The loaf is made of lentils and brown rice with some cheese and the topping is red, yellow, and green bell peppers. I really like this but lentils and rice brings to mind a good memory and I am not biased against vegetarian dishes. While it is flavorful, it doesn't pretend to be meat so those people that tend to be more carnivore might not like this.

The last meatloaf cupcake that I have had has the imaginative name Meatloaf #641. It is actually similar to the Mother Loaf but uses a jalapeno ketchup between the loaf and the mashed potato topping and is topped with a halved grape tomato. It is very cute, a little spicy, and a winner if you like good meatloaf.

Meatloaf cupcakes are a very imaginative and are fun to share with people. As I said, I like both meatloaf and cupcakes and these are good examples of both. I will definitely be back here.