black bottom cupcakes with raspberries

When I have a chocolate craving I like to bring out The Great Book of Chocolate by David Lebovitz. I love flipping through the pages and drooling over the chocolatey desserts. I was struck by these black bottom cupcakes with the yummy looking cream cheese filling. The cupcakes are described to be like a Devil's Food cake which I definitely agree with. They were moist, delicious and not overly sweet. They were perfect with some fresh raspberries!

Black Bottom Cupcakes from David Lebovitz's The Great Book of Chocolate

makes 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

For the Filling

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

For the Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

5 tablespoons naturally unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil {very important if you don't want them to taste weird!}

1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Make the filling: Beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in chopped chocolate pieces. Set aside.

Make the cupcakes:

Adjust the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter a 12-cup muffin tin, or line the tin with paper muffin cups.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl mix together the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring just until smooth. Stir any longer and you will overmix the batter and end up with less than tender cupcakes.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly. This will fill the cups almost completely, which is fine.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gentrly pressed. These moist treats will keep unrefrigerated for 2 to 3 days if stored in an airtight container. Serve with fresh berries. 

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I'm giving up sweets for Lent so I have a challenging 40 plus days ahead of me. These cupcakes were a great swan song until Easter. I think I'll have to start sharing some easy lunch and dinner recipes over the next couple months. 

Feel free to leave any suggestions below!

xox