Ding Ding Ding, We Have a Winner

You may get tired of my posts about things to bake, but I really love to bake.  I find it comforting.  It is sort of like a meditation to me.  If I am really stressed, I bake.  There is something soothing about the measuring and the mixing - following the recipe. The one thing about baking is there is no room for improvising - you need to follow the recipe for the proper outcome.  I sometimes wish life had this same kind of recipe book, don't you?  But then, I guess it would take a lot of the wonder and creativity of daily living away.   

This cupcake recipe is maybe the best cupcake ever as far as we are concerned and we have tried many.  (believe me)  This rich chocolate cupcake is filled with a cream cheese and chocolate chip filling that is like a little cheesecake in the middle of chocolate heaven.  Dan, who is a "chocoholic" will verify the goodness of these heavenly morsels.  

Now, they are a little tricky to make.  You have to make the batter and the filling separately.  Here is what you do:

Ingredients for cupcakes:

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup water

Ingredients for filling:

6 ounces cream cheese softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

To make the cupcake batter, melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips over hot water (double boiler) until smooth.  Set aside.  Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together.  Combine sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla.  Stir in melted chips.  Alternate 1 cup water and flour mixture while adding to sugar/oil/egg/vanilla/chips mixture.   This is a runny batter so don't be alarmed.

Make filling by combining all ingredients.   

Line muffin tin with 16 cupcake papers.  Spoon 1 TBSP of cake batter in bottom of cupcake papers.  Spoon  1 heaping TBSP filling over chocolate cake batter like this.  If there is remaining filling, distribute evenly among cupcakes.

Now, add another heaping TBSP cake batter over filling like this.

If there is remaining cake batter, distribute evenly among cupcakes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 23-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

I have made a chocolate glaze for these before and then sprinkled with confectioner's sugar but it is not necessary.  It  just makes them more "chocolatey."  Is that a word?  It is now.  

This recipe doubles nicely and you will probably want to do that because 16 of these cupcakes won't last long enough to put the supplies and cooking utensils away.  They are really nice to take to a pot luck or picnic.  Need something to share at work?  Perfect!  If you have children at home, I'm just sayin'.   No icing to melt and they are YUMMY!  

Next time you are feeling stressed, try baking.  It will do wonders for your spirit and your taste buds (not so much for your waistline unfortunately).  Go ahead, give these a try.  I know you are going to like these!  Chocolate!  Cheesecake!  What's not to like?  I'm heading to the kitchen now and preheating the oven.   

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

It's not what happens to you that counts, but how you handle it. It's not how far you fall, but how well you bounce~Dan Zadra