Beth redeems herself: These cupcakes are mad sick, ya'll!

Can a 42-year old use that expression without sounding like an idiot? Who cares? This post is not even about plastic. It's about cupcakes that rocked my world tonight, and I MADE THEM! The only reason I'm posting about them here is to redeem myself for the pita disaster a few nights ago. Just look at these pictures and drool...


Black bottom cupcakes with cream cheese & chocolate chip topping/middle and dark chocolate cake bottom. Take a closer look:


They are moist and gooey without being underdone with a chocolaty goodness that can only come from a Benevolent Universe. Wait, did I say that? The chocolaty goodness is going to my brain. I meant to say careful recipe reading, a bit of imagination, and a lot of luck!

Here's the recipe that I adapted from the Joy of Cooking. All adaptations were purely in the service of richness, moistness, and intensity of chocolate experience.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

(According to the Joy of Cooking, their recipe makes 16 cupcakes. Yeah, if you want wimpy "Just give me a small one cause I'm watching my figure" cupcakes. My recipe actually makes 12!)

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, beat until smooth:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup light brown sugar

Add and beat until smooth:

2 large eggs (JOC says 1, but we're being extravagant here.)

Stir in:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

And here's the kicker: Instead of the 1/4 cup of cocoa that JOC prescribes, in the microwave, melt 2 entire 3.5 ounce bars of Lindt 70% cocoa dark extra fine chocolate. (Or you can use any other good quality chocolate bar with a high cocoa content.)

Add to the dry ingredients:

1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar (Really. That part is directly from JOC.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
All the melted chocolate that you can get into the bowl before eating a few spoonfuls yourself, just to make sure it's okay for company.

Stir with a rubber spatula until just smooth. Fill the muffin cups about 2/3 full. (JOC says 1/2 full, but we are making adult-size cupcakes here.) Place a heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture in the center of each. (It will actually cover the top of each cupcake. Push it down into the middle a little with your spoon.) Bake until the cakey part of a cupcake comes out clean. (Of course, since the whole top is covered with cream cheesy goodness, it can be hard to tell.) About 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely before removing from pan.

Jo Anne, do you want me to bring you one to work tomorrow, or are you still "being good?"