Birthday Cake, Step Aside: The Meatloaf Cake Is In

There's no Funfetti for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Turns out, the 65-year-old recently revealed that all he wanted for his birthday was his wife's meatloaf cake. Which begs the question: What is meatloaf cake?

As Romney describes it, they're cakes (about the size of the saucer) made with a ketchup and brown sugar sauce, paired with the regular side fixings: mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and carrots. Now that The New York Times has tweaked Ann Romney's recipe, it's bound to catch on as a meat-and-potatoes alternative to a sweet treat.

Meatloaf cakes, while seemingly quiet on the forefront of entertaining, have been a delicious option for Chicagoans for years. Cynthia Kallile opened the Meatloaf Bakery nearly four years ago, and has been providing a salty substitute for all kinds of celebrations, she says. The most popular meatloaf cake: the No Buns About It cake, which she describes as a bacon cheeseburger-type meatloaf. The shop sells them for birthday parties, anniversaries, family reunions, and even weddings. (A 12-pound meatloaf cake — talk about true love.) "What's great about them is that [the cakes] are very filling, and rich," says Kallile. "There's lots of goodies inside each one; it makes for a great celebration."

How to make it your own? For a birthday party à la Romney, decorate it like a traditional birthday cake, like Martha Stewart's. Try Cooper Gillespie's recipe for meatloaf cupcakes (which can be made for canines, but is safe for hungry humans to eat, too). Still, we like the classic meatloaf recipe, too.