One down, and many more to go….

I have a steadily growing to-bake list (I am sure many of you are guilty as well) which I try to shorten every now and then. Being an addict to sites like Tastespotting and Food Gawker certainly doesn’t help either. A couple of weeks back, I bought a huge block of cream cheese to tackle some of the recipes in the to-bake list. I stuffed it at the back of my fridge and promptly forgotten all about it. Mother gently (okay I lied. I meant loudly) reminded that the block of cheese was taking up unnecessary space in the fridge and preventing her from storing her precious herbs. Hmph. There is no love in this family. 

 

I took out the cream cheese today and proceeded to make to make some black bottom cupcakes, which I promised Mr DC ages ago. For some reason, my cream cheese remained grainy no matter how much I whipped them. With a sigh, I took out my mom’s dreaded chopper. With a few pulses, I got it to the smooth consistency I wanted. I gingerly scooped it out. No mess this time! Phew. The rest of the steps were easy enough. The cupcakes turned out super moist with the right amount of sweetness. The tangy cream cheese was a great contrast with the chocolatey cup cake. Yum! I got to get them away from me before I finish them by myself. :)

Black-Bottom Cupcakes
(from  David Lebovitz’s  The Great Book of Chocolate, as seen in Smitten Kitchen)

For the Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

For the Cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons naturally unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the Filling: Beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in chopped chocolate pieces. Set aside.

Make the Cupcakes:
1. Adjust the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 175°C. Butter a 12-cup muffin tin, or line the tin with paper muffin cups.

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

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring just until smooth. Stir any longer and you will over mix the batter and end up with less-than-tender cupcakes.

4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly. This will fill the cups almost completely, which is fine.

5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed. These moist treats will keep unrefrigerated for 2 to 3 days if stored in an airtight container.