RECIPE: Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

These cupcakes take me back to roughly 1989 to a picnic at Bates Nut Farm (Escondido, Ca). For many years we enjoyed a tradition on Memorial Day... a church picnic. The park on the Farm is lined with large shade trees... where we gathered. The edge of the park is dotted with picnic tables... where we shared stories, laughed and learned from each other.

We ate... we played volleyball, bocce ball and softball... and I'm pretty sure we all got sun-burned.


And then we were introduced to these cupcakes.

Thank you, Patti Groves, for changing my life!



So, let's make some!

I started with all of these ingredients, plus vanilla extract. (If I posted a recipe and actually remembered to pull all of the ingredients out of the cupboards... well, it would be a miracle.)



First step: cream cheese filling. Mix together the cream cheese, egg, pinch of salt, 1/3 cup of sugar and chocolate chips.













I may or may not have licked off the cream cheese batter...

(Please note: some people believe there is a chance of salmonella poisoning when raw eggs are consumed. This is not a recommendation to consume raw egg products.)



Moving along to the dry ingredient mix... starting with the flour, 1 cup of sugar, cocoa mix, baking soda and kosher salt.



Quick stir until it's all mixed...



And then I add the wet ingredients... vanilla extract, vinegar, water and canola oil and mixed until it was all combined and there were no more lumps.











Next step... spooning the chocolate mixture into the muffin tins lined with paper cups. But only fill them up about half way ...



Because next is the great cream cheese stuff...



Fill and repeat until all of both mixtures is used up...



Approximately 30 minutes later...



Please resist the urge to take them out of the tin right away... allow them to cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing them to cooling rack.



And when you can handle them, not a minute before or a minute after... peel that wrapper off and take a bite (or two) and reveal the creamy middle!




Memorial Day is in a few more weekends... and this year I'll be with most of my family on Memorial Day. Maybe we'll make these again at that point... then again, maybe I won't be able to wait that long...



Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes
Recipe courtesy Patti Groves

Ingredients

Filling
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
Dash of salt
8 ounces chocolate chips

Cupcake
1 ½ cup flour
1 cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In small bowl - mix cream cheese, egg, sugar, salt and chocolate chips.

In large bowl mix dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

To large bowl add wet ingredients: water, oil, vinegar and vanilla extract. Stir until creamy.

Line muffin tins with paper cups, fill cups ½ full with chocolate cake mix. Drop 2 or 3 tablespoons cream cheese mixture in muffin tins.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely before enjoying.




enjoy your time in the kitchen...