Black-Bottom Cupcakes

(From The Great Book of Chocolate by David Lebovitz)

Yield: 36 mini cupcakes or 12 full-size cupcakes. I endorse only mini-cupcakes. (Solely for the cuteness factor. Well, and the fact that it feels like you have so many more.)

Cheesecake filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (or mini chips)

Chocolate cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat to 350°F. Grease a muffin tin or line the tin with paper muffin cups.

For the filling:

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

For the cupcakes:

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 until just smooth. (Do not stir for too long or you will over mix the batter and end up with not-so-tender cupcakes.)

All together now:

Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Spoon a teaspoon of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly. Fill the cups about 80-90% full.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. (Keep a close eye on the cupcakes for the last few minutes. This is key, as the lovely white of the cheesecake can become a slightly-less-lovely golden brown within a minute. Mine were perfect at 28 minutes.)