Dark Bottom Choc & Cream Cheese Cuppies

This recipe is tried and tested so many times and has never failed me. One of my best friends from high school (we are a crazy bunch of 4) Carmen Lee runs a cake business in Laos. She is so talented and has hands worth kissing. Unfortunately she does not have a blog for me to share the pictures of her cakes with you but please trust me when I say they are gorgeous, creative and they look soooo good, you almost don't want to cut or eat them. This recipe is courtesy Carmen and I do not lie when I say that every time I bake them, they don't stay on my table very long.

The good thing about this cupcake is that you can make it without the cream cheese part and it will still taste yum. Just make sure you fill 3/4 of the cupcake liner if you are not including the cream cheese.

When you make it the batter will not be as thick as a regular batter, but it cooks up just fine, so don't worry if it seems a little runny.

Ingredients

Choc Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour 

2 cups white sugar 

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

2/3 cup vegetable oil 

2 cups water

2 tablespoons vinegar 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

Filling:

1 (8oz) package cream cheese softened 

1 egg 

1/2 cup white sugar 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips 

Method

1. Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. (dry ingredients)
2. In a separate bowl, mix oil, water, vinegar and vanilla until well blended. (wet ingredients)
3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients & stir in the wet ingredients until nice & smooth. You can use a strong wooden spoon to do this. No electric mixer required. 
4. Pour batter into lined cupcake trays half full. Pouring is always the messy part. I normally pour the batter into a small jug with a spout so it makes it easy to pour it. I use a spoon to control the amount that falls into each cupcake liner.
5. Beat cream cheese until smooth with electric beater.
6. Add egg, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. 
7. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop a heaping teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture into each cupcake. Use the back of your spoon and spread it a little.  
8. Bake for 22 minutes if you are using a muffin pan as the bottom browns quickly. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350F (175C). Poke only the chocolate side of the cupcake to test if it is cooked as the cream cheese will remain soft. 
9. REMEMBER CHOC CHIPS MELT TOO!

Makes approximately 42 x 2inch cupcakes / 24 x 2.5 inch cupcakes

You can top these with buttercream or cream cheese frosting.