Cheesecake-Filled Cupcakes

These were supposed to be Black Bottom Cupcakes, but something funny happened in the heat of my oven. Essentially all of the cream cheese filling I had carefully dolloped in the midst of my cupcakes was overpowered and encased by rising cupcake dough. The cupcakes depicted are actually a minority, the resolute few whose cheesecake filling refused to be wholly submerged in a tide of rising dough. I thought they’d photograph better than the others, which look exactly like regular chocolate cupcakes with sunken tops. This sunken-ness is typical of all black-bottom cupcakes and is a design feature rather than a flaw.

That these resulted in a cheesecake filling, rather than topping, was a bit of a pleasant surprise. These cupcakes, for example, lend themselves to frosting far more readily than do their traditional black-bottomed counterparts. The cheesecake in the middle is like the malt filling in the whopper, the caramel sandwiched between cookie and chocolate in the Twix. It’s the delightful hidden surprise. Really, I think them far nicer because one doesn’t realize (unless one happened to bake them) that a plain, slightly sunken chocolate shell conceals vast reservoirs of cheesecake. Or proto-cheesecake. Cheesecake-like substance.

I think I may have obtained these results because I added an egg yolk to the cupcake batter. The filling called only for an egg white, and I didn’t want the poor, forlorn yolk to go to waste. Eggs, as you probably know, have leavening properties. I have a hunch that this yolk added the extra buoyancy that pushed the chocolate cupcakes over the top.
I can’t predict whether you would have the same results with this recipe, but at worst, you’ll end up with perfectly pleasant and serviceable black bottom cupcakes.

Adapted from Tortatebukura's Blog

Cupcakes:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used dark cocoa powder)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water, room temperature
1/4 cup mini-chocolate chips or chunks (I used dark)

6 tablespoons plain Greek yoghurt or sour cream, room temperature (I used yoghurt, and it was great)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk

Filling:
Filling
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon sour cream or plain Green yoghurt (I stuck with the Yoghurt)
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips or chunks (I used small dark chocolate chunks from Whole Foods)

Preheat the oven to 400 and grease a muffin tin (or use muffin liners)

For the cupcakes: Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together by hand in a large bowl. Whisk in the water, sour cream, melted butter, vanilla, and chocolate until just incorporated.

For the filling: Using an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth, about 30 seconds. Beat in the egg white and sour cream or yoghurt until combined, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chocolate pieces

Spoon a quarter cup of the cupcake batter into each muffin tin. Dollop a generous tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture onto the center of each cupcake.

Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the chocolate part of the cupcakes comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the tin halfway through baking. Let the cupcakes cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

Printable recipe here.