Every year the DC Phi Mu Alumnae Chapter has an annual Summer Soirée (in the afternoon mind you — love the event, but soirée is French for evening!) . . .
Anyways, one of the lovely ladies who has been a member longer than I have generously hosts the get together at her house on capitol hill. It’s always so delightful! We have sangria and everyone brings a little something — potluck style! Being at the end of the alphabet I was asked to bring something sweet in addition to a drink.
For my drink I chose to make Iced Wild Berry Zinger Herbal Tea since I knew most everyone else would be bringing alcoholic beverages. And then of course my something sweet was the black bottom cupcakes!
A few things about the Black Bottom Mini Cupcakes before I dive in . . . I am really surprised when I make them how much people like them! I got the recipe from my sister (who got it from the internet – shh 😉 don’t tell anyone – but we made a few adjustments to that recipe anyways). And it’s really my mom and sister who are the master bakers of the family! Case in point — here are the fabulous Passover desserts my sister made this year:
![[image - Passover Instagrams - Chocolate Macaroon Torte, Chocolate Torte, Apple Cake]](https://yarnandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/PassoverInstagrams.png)
I made these same black bottom mini cupcakes back in February for my “apartment-warming” party — I would say house-warming, but I live in an apartment, so there ya go! (Though really it was a hey-friends-come-and-meet-Ben-party! 😉 ) Those black bottom cupcakes were eaten up then as well! Almost none were left over!
Well, on to the recipe . . .
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Items you will need:
- muffin tins
- paper muffin tin liners or cooking spray
Ingredients – For the Cream Cheese Topping:
- 1 (8 ounce) package Neufchâtel cheese, softened
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
Ingredients – For the Cupcakes:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar (from Trader Joe’s)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
The two things I subbed out were the Neufchâtel cheese for regular cream cheese and the white balsamic vinegar from Trader Joe’s for cider vinegar because it’s what I had on hand and my sister said I could because I didn’t want to go buy a whole bottle of vinegar that I would never use for only 1 tablespoon.
![[ image - Ingredients for Mini Black Bottom Cupcakes ]](https://yarnandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/BlackBottomIngredients.png)
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Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Line muffin tins with paper cups OR lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Preparing the Cream Cheese Topping:
1. In a medium (or smaller) bowl, Crack the egg and beat it a little bit
2. Beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 c. sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips
4. Set the bowl aside for later
![[image - Black Bottom Cream Cheese Topping]](https://yarnandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/BlackBottomCreamCheeseTopping.png)
Preparing the Chocolate Cupcakes:
1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour (1 ½c.), the sugar (1c.), cocoa (¼c.), baking soda (1 tsp) and the salt (½ tsp).
![[image - Black Bottom Cupcakes - flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt ]](https://yarnandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IMAG0532.png)
2. Make a well in the center and add the water (1 c.), oil (1/3 c.), vinegar (1 tsp) and vanilla (1 tsp). Stir together until well blended.
![[ image - Black Bottom Cupcakes - adding the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla]](https://yarnandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IMAG0533.png)
![[image - Black Bottom Cupcakes - mixing in the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla ]](https://yarnandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IMAG0536.png)
3. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter
![[ image - Black Bottom Cupcakes - Filling the muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter ]](https://yarnandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IMAG0538.png)
4. Top the chocolate mixture with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture.
![[ image - Black Bottom Cupcakes - Topping the chocolate mixture with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture. ]](https://yarnandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IMAG0539.png)
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 – 30 min.
![[image - Black Bottoms fresh out of the oven]](https://yarnandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IMAG0541.png)
![[image - Black Bottoms on the cooling rack]](https://yarnandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IMAG0543.png)
![[image - Tamara signature]](https://yarnandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/tamara-my-blog-sig.png)