meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato frosting

In all the excitement of posting the funfetti cake, ice cream, and cupcakes that I made for Micah's first birthday celebration this past February, I almost forgot to post what I made for dinner! We wanted to make a simple dinner to celebrate with family - I decided to make my favorite macaroni and cheese (from America's Test Kitchen) since the kids love it, along with meatloaf and tossed salad.

As I was preparing the components for the meatloaf, I suddenly remembered a show on Food Network I had seen a long time ago, where they featured a restaurant in Chicago that made meatloaf cupcakes topped with mashed potatoes as frosting. (I specifically remember it was in Chicago because I had immediately texted my cousin in Chicago to ask if she knew of the place!) And so I decided to turn my meatloaf into cupcakes as well!

After forming my meatloaf into giant meatballs, I patted them into a cupcake tin, and then brushed on a mixture of brown sugar, ketchup and ground mustard.

I baked them at 350F for about 25 minutes, until the meat was cooked through and the glaze had become dark and sticky.

My husband whipped up a quick batch of mashed potatoes, deliciously flavored with butter, heavy cream, and salt. Then I filled a piping bag fitted with a large star tip, and got to work piping my mashed potato "frosting"!

The final touch was a sprinking of chopped green onions. Aren't they cute?!

funfetti birthday cupcakes with whipped cream frosting

In addition to the funfetti birthday cake and funfetti ice cream that I made for Micah's first birthday celebration, I also made these funfetti cupcakes for him to celebrate at school (well, daycare!). I used the same recipe as I did for the cake, and instead baked them in cupcake tins at 350F for 20 minutes.

For the frosting, I made the same blue-tinted whipped cream frosting as I did for the cake, and used a Wilton 1M open-star tip to pipe rosettes on top of each cupcake.

Then, to match the cake, I sprinkled the same multicolored round confetti sprinkles all over the top!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - this boy loves cake! He wolfed his cupcake down in a matter of minutes, as he did his slice of birthday cake the day before!

I also had enough batter leftover to make a few mini cupcakes as well! They were small enough to eat in just one bite - Yum!

funfetti cookies-n-cream ice cream

To go along with the blue funfetti cake that I made for my youngest son Micah's first birthday, I decided to make cookies-n-cream ice cream. But this wasn't just any cookies-n-cream ice cream ... I wanted to add lots of sprinkles to it, for a festive birthday feel that matched the confetti cake. And, when I went to the store to pick up Oreos, I found these - birthday cake Oreos! With funfetti in the Oreo filling! How perfect!

So I made my custard base as usual - I mixed egg yolks with sugar, tempered them with a hot cream and milk mixture, and then cooked it all over the stove until the mixture thickens. Then I strained it, added vanilla extract, and let it cool before churning (I typically let it cool overnight in the fridge). 

During the last 5 minutes of churning, I added a cup of chopped birthday cake Oreos, and finally a few handfuls of rainbow sprinkles. Once everything was all mixed in, I poured it into a container to let it set in the freezer overnight.

While I didn't totally love the birthday cake Oreos by itself (I prefer the original Oreos better), I absolutely LOVED it when paired with the ice cream. It added the perfect amount of "birthday cake" taste to the ice cream. And it was the perfect compliment to the funfetti birthday cake! I'll definitely be making this again!

blue funfetti birthday cake with piped shell sides

My friend Helen's baby had her first birthday exactly one month before my youngest baby Micah. She had asked me to make a funfetti birthday cake, but at the time I was so busy that I wasn't able to (so sorry, Helen!). But when it was time for me to make Micah's birthday cake a month later, I just couldn't get funfetti out of my head! So I made him a vanilla cake using my favorite vanilla cake recipe, and threw in a half cup of rainbow sprinkles to make it funfetti.

Then I baked the cake layers in two 8-inch pans. They came out so fun and colorful compare to the first funfetti cake that I made (I didn't add enough sprinkles to that one!)

Then I sliced each cake layer into half horizontally, and filled them with freshly whipped cream.

With the rest of the whipped cream, I tinted it a pretty aqua color (using Americolor Sky Blue), and used it to frost the outside of the cake.

Then for the sides of the cake, I drew inspiration from this adorable rainbow cake at My Cake School! I had seen it randomly the week before while browsing Pinterest, and loved the look of the piped shells covering the sides of the cake.

I loved the look of the cake, and almost just left it like this, but thought it needed a "birthday" touch added to it ...

So I sprinkled some multicolored round confetti sprinkles around the sides on the top of the cake to give it more of a "birthday" feel!

Micah certainly liked it - boy, does this kid love cake! He couldn't get enough of it!

I can't believe my youngest baby is already one!

Happy Birthday to my little Micah! We love you!!!