Black bottom cupcakes are one of the desserts I remember always being a part of my life. My mom didn't bake often, but she did know how to make these cupcakes. I can't remember if they were made for holidays or just because, but I have loved them from the first time I had one.
Then as a teenager, I had a friend who worked at a little bakery in the mall and they sold bite-sized black bottom cupcakes. They were really cheap too but I know I probably spent at least $100 on them during the summer, getting them every time we went to the mall and she was working.
One of the days when Tom and I had first started dating, I was telling him about these cupcakes and he had said he'd never had them before. Of course I needed to remedy that right away. He really liked them and I ended up making them as the favors for our wedding.
Only I would use the two days off before my wedding to assemble Chinese-style take out boxes to hold 2 cupcakes each, then bake 150+ cupcakes! But they turned out perfectly and everyone said it was such a great idea as a wedding favor that I can't help but think it was entirely worth it.
I almost always have blocks of cream cheese in my fridge and you all know my hoarding obsession with mini chocolate chips, so I can pretty much make these cupcakes at any time. Which I think turned out to be a little ironic, because when I decided I was going to redo this recipe for the Festive Foodies, I ended up having to make them three times. The first batch stuck horribly to the liners and the cream cheese middle in the second batch sunk before I could get a good picture of them. Third time is the charm, right?
Baltimore Black Bottom Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcake:
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the Filling:
- 8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with liners or spray liberally with non-stick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.1 ½ cups all purpose flour, 1 cup sugar, ¼ cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add the water, vegetable oil, vinegar and vanilla. Mix until combined. The batter will be really thin.1 cup water, ⅓ cup vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Fill the cupcake pans with ⅓ of the batter.
- In another bowl, beat together the cream cheese until smooth. Then add in the sugar and beat for 3 minutes.8 oz. cream cheese, ⅓ cup sugar
- Add in the egg and mix until combined, followed by the salt. Then add the mini chocolate chips, mixing only until just incorporated.1 egg, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- Drop a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture on top of the cupcake batter.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes then remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes.
Nutrition
Recipes on Cookaholic Wife are for information purposes only. Nutritional Data provided has not been evaluated by a nutritionist.
The cupcakes can be kept at room temperature, but are better if stored in the refrigerator.
Of course my coworkers did not mind the three batches of these cupcakes that I brought in over the course of a month trying to get the recipe right. The cake portion is light and rich and the cream cheese filling is basically a dollop of cheesecake. You really can't go wrong with that combination.
Originally posted on www.cookaholicwife.com on February 13, 2010.
Caroline Williams
I've never heard of these, but love the color combo and can understand why they were popular!
Carlee
Mmmmm! I, like you, always have cream cheese and mini chips on hand. And can you believe I have never had a black bottom cupcake either? These are on my must make list!
Books n' Cooks
Such a cute story! I used to make these cupcakes all of the time and then kind of forgot about them. Thanks for the reminder - going to need to make again soon!
Karen
These are the best!! I totally understand your obsession!
Anne
I've never had these before, but they sound good!
Chris
These look SO good!! I can't pass up a good cupcake.
Family Around The Table
How awesome to get a homemade treat for a wedding favor. These look delicious. I need to make them for an event for school.