Black Bottom Cupcakes

It's Shaun's birthday and that means he gets to take cupcakes to work! Now, light fluffy cake and pouffy icing doesn't a manly cupcake make; and Shaun would insist it's bad enough to carry a cupcake carrier to work with him without there being frou-frou cupcakes inside....a serious insult to his manhood I'm sure.

So here we are...the manliest cupcakes in the world. Even their name screams of manliness...the Black Bottom Cupcake...sounds sinister doesn't it?

What we have is dark Devils food cake, no icing on these cupcakes...(real men don't eat icing)...and a little dollop..oh, excuse me...a robust blob(!) of cream cheese filling (cream cheese is ok apparently being the stuff many a chip-dip is made from). Just don't tell him there are mini chocolate chips mixed in...if he asks I'll tell him it's poison. Manly Poison.

Black Bottom Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes

Prep Time:  20 minutes
Cooking Time:  30 minutes
Total: 50 minutes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Filling:

1 250 gram block cream cheese at room temperature

1 egg

1/3 cup white sugar

1/8 tsp (pinch) of salt

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Cake:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 tbsp white vinegar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine filling ingredients and stir together until well combined. 
3. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, make a well in the centre for wet ingredients. 
4. Add water, oil, vinegar and vanilla to bowl. Beat together with hand or stand mixer until just combined.
5. Line two muffin tins with paper liners and spoon batter into each liner until just under half full. 
6. Top each with a heaping tbsp of cream cheese mixture.
7. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean.