Black Bottom Cupcakes

Part 2 of the “Make My Co-Workers Love Me” Cupcake Campaign. I had wanted to make this recipe for a long time – it’s a chocolate cupcake surrounding cheesecake filling – how could it go wrong? But I knew if I ever made them by myself, I’d spend the next few days in food coma because no force on Earth would stop me from stuffing my face with these treats. Luckily co-workers provided both the excuse to make them, and the audience to eat them.

It worked out perfectly because these suckers are delicious. And surprisingly easy to make.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

From Smitten Kitchen 

These cupcakes are amazingly moist. You can store them unrefrigerated for 2 to 3 days, but mine kept fine for about a week when I stuck the extras in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week.

It occurs to me that the cupcake recipe itself is vegan for those who would like to try it on its own. You should probably shorten the cooking time by about 5 to 10 minutes, but I really liked the cupcakes and think they'd stand well on their own. You could probably make the entire recipe gluten-free by experimenting with almond flour as a replacement for all-purpose and xanthan gum. 

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

5 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cheesecake Filling

1 package 8-oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped*

*I used about half a 6 oz-package of semisweet chocolate chips to great success.

Equipment:

Muffin tin, cupcake liners, hand mixer

Preheat oven to 350 and set the rack to the center of the oven. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Make the filling: Beat the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and egg together until smooth. Stir in the chopped chocolate pieces (or chocolate chips) and set aside.

Make the cupcakes: In a medium bowl, sift the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together. In a separate bowl, mix the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla together.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon until just smooth. Too much stirring will overmix the batter (and result in less tender cupcakes) so be careful!

Divide the batter among the muffin cups evenly, filling each about 3/4 of the way. Use a tablespoon to add one or two scoops of filling into the center of each cupcake. The cupcake batter should rise up to surround the cheesecake filling.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are slightly golden brown.

Serves: 12