Black
Bottom Cupcakes are hard to resist for they taste as good as they look. As
soon as I found this recipe in David Lebovitz's 'The Great Book of
Chocolate' I knew it was a keeper. The combination of a rich and chocolately cupcake filled with a lovely soft cheesecake center is
reminiscent of a cheesecake brownie.
We start these cupcakes with a Devil's Food Cake batter. John Mariani
tells us in his book "The Dictionary of American Food and Drink" that the
name is so called "because it is supposedly so rich and delicious that it
must, to a moralist, be somewhat sinful." It is true that this cake has a
deep chocolate color and flavor with a moist and tender crumb. This color
and flavor comes from using unsweetened cocoa powder, not Dutch processed
in the batter. Popular brands of unsweetened natural cocoa powder are
Hershey's, Ghirardelli, Pernigotti, and Scharffen Berger. Once the
chocolate batter is made and placed in the muffin cups, we next turn to
the cheesecake filling. It is easily made in your food processor and once
made it is dropped by tablespoons into the center of each muffin cup. As
the cupcakes bake the chocolate batter becomes a shell for the cheesecake
filling. Wonderful hot, cold, or at room temperature.
The name
"cupcake" was used differently back in the 1800s. Then the name "cup cake"
simply referred to a cake where the ingredients were 'measured' not
'weighed'. It seems that before the 1880s ingredients for cake baking were
actually weighed so when recipes started to be given in 'cup'
measurements, the cake recipes were named 'cup cakes' to reflect this
difference. Greg Patent also tells us in his book 'Baking in America' that
a woman named Mrs. Rorer (in 1902) was the first to actually print a
recipe for the cupcakes (with frosting) we all enjoy today.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C)
and lightly butter or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, 12 muffin cups.
Cream Cheese
Filling: In your food processor
or electric mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, egg, and
vanilla extract and beat until creamy and smooth. Set aside while you make the
Chocolate Cupcake batter.
Chocolate
Cupcakes: First, in a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder,
baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl mix the water, oil, vinegar, and
vanilla extract. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in
the wet ingredients until nice and smooth. Evenly divide the batter among the 12
muffin cups. Then spoon a few tablespoons of the cream cheese filling into the
center of each cupcake.
Bake in the
preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until the cream cheese filling is a
little brown and the cupcakes feel springy to the touch (a toothpick inserted
into the chocolate part of the cupcake will come out clean). Remove from oven
and place on a wire rack to cool.
These cupcakes can
be stored in the refrigerator for about 3 - 4 days.
Makes 12 cupcakes
Sources:
Lebovitz, David.
'The Great Book of Chocolate". Ten Speed Press. Berkeley: 2004.
Mariani, John F.
'The Dictionary of American Food & Drink. Ticknor & Fields. New Haven: 1983.
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounces (227
grams) cream cheese, room temperature
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