Going to the chapel....and we're gonna make cu-uu-uupcakes.

My younger brother got married yesterday. I keep wanting to say my little brother, but that hasn't been true for about eight years, so anyway, congrats to my younger brother and his new wife! But on the downside, on the way there Noel sang, "We're going to the chapel and we're gonna get married...." and it has now been in my head for more than twenty-four hours. Not fun.
I assisted with the food for the rehearsal dinner on Thursday night--several different flavors of meatball subs, lots of salads and fruits, a salsa bar, and then my favorite part--dessert. I made two kinds of mini cupcakes, one called "Black Bottom Cupcakes" on the website where I found the recipe, henceforth to be known as "Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes" because I find "Black Bottom" a little weird. The other cupcakes were Yogurt Lime, adapted from an earlier yogurt cake that I made.

Ryan and Abby came over and helped frost the cupcakes, and Noel took pictures, so it was a group effort all around. And, of course, we sampled a few (shhh...don't tell the bride and groom!)

But here is the recipe for the Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes, which are a cinch to make, and look cute in a squiggly way. They're also dense and delicious--mostly chocolatey but with a nice smooth tang from the dollop of cream cheese mixture.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup white sugar
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and sugar, then add the egg and stir until the mixture is smooth (but don't over-mix it). Stir in the mini chocolate chips, and set the mixture aside.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Then make a well in the center of the dry mixture, and add the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Stir until there aren't lumps any more, but again, do not over mix.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 degrees, and prepare mini muffin tins. To assemble the cupcakes fill the mini muffin papers about half full with the chocolatey mixture, then place a dollop of the cream cheese mixture on the top. Abby and I tagged teamed it, I filled them with chocolate and then she dolloped, and it went really fast.

Once all the cupcakes are filled [I filled all sixty spots in my muffin tins, and then tossed about 1/2 cup of batter since I didn't have more papers] place them in the preheated oven. Bake for about 17-20 minutes, or until the cakes are solid to the touch on the top, and a toothpick comes out clean. Don't overbake them though, or the cream cheese part will crack and separate from the rest.

Place them on a wire rack to cool, then store in an airtight container. I also recommend refrigerating them--ours tasted good for two days, then the third day they were kind of funny, I think because I hadn't refrigerated them and the cream cheese started tasting weird.

But they don't need frosting, and they still look cute--the perfect easy, portable dessert!