Barely a week goes by without some tale of cupcake ’envelope pushing’, and this week is no different, with US cupcake stories dominating our humble corner of BB.

And what better way to rewrite the cupcake recipe book than by introducing the not-so-dainty ingredient of dead animals?

"Meatloaf is a wonderful way to be creative and take risks in the kitchen. The possibilities are endless," writes bakery owner Cynthia Kallile on her website www.themeatloafbakery.com, a Chicago bakery that specialises in cupcakes made of meatloaf. And the icing on the cake - as she puts it - is mashed potatoes.

We’ll let her explain the bizarre rationale in her own words. After she had the eureka moment, she realised "meatloaf could taste great AND look beautiful". "From there, I refashioned my meatloaf into bite-size loafies, savoury cupcakes and family-size pastries, each topped with a special blend of potatoes, pasta, even veggies."

Most remarkable of all, perhaps, a scan down the FAQs section on the website reveals that nobody thought to ask the question ’why, oh why, oh why?’