Take 2!

As I was scooping out the 1 1/2 cups of flour I needed for these cupcakes, my mind traveled back to my childhood days of playing with dough. I would sit at the kitchen table with a cutting board, a big pile of flour, add the water, and enjoy creating all sorts of things with that sticky dough. It's funny to think back to that time. My parents probably thought it was a sign that I'd grow up to be a cook or a baker of fine muffins and pies! Instead, I grew up to get my hands messy in thick gobs of paint, rather than dough. I remember one particular day while I was playing with dough, I happened to leave the kitchen for a bit. I came back to discover that my sister and her friends had put shredded cheese in my dough! It had been contaminated and was no longer the texture I liked squishing and pulling. It had chunky pieces of orange cheese that did not belong!

So, this brings me back to our dessert recipe this week. Our first sweet treat on the blog, might I add! My birthday was last weekend and since I was visiting Heather, we decided to make a birthday treat for our weekly recipe. Well...as we started preparing our ingredients, we discovered that the cream cheese filling needed white sugar and we were totally out! What shall a cook do? "We'll just use brown sugar." I assumed Heather knew what she was doing. But, in the same way that the shredded cheese did not belong in my dough, that brown sugar did not belong in that filling. I'm thinking that brown sugar cooks faster or just makes things more likely to burn, because after the appropriate time in the oven, we discovered that the cupcakes were very dark! We tasted one and just weren't sure if it was good or not. Now, if you can't tell whether or not a cupcake is good, then it probably isn't. Seems like every time the sisters cook together, something crazy happens! We decided that we would take a second shot at the cupcakes again on our own. So, this week, I attempted the sweet treat again, but this time following the recipe to a T. Needless to say, they came out much better. Look at the picture below...Now, which one would YOU rather be eating?


With just one bite I could tell the newly baked cupcakes were scrumptious! I brought them to work and they were definitely a big hit!

"Who brought in more sweets? This is NOT good for my waistline!"

"Oooo pretty cupcakes! Who's birthday is it?"

"Mandi, those cupcakes are scrumptious!"

"I can't have any of those! That would defeat my 4 mile walk this morning!"

The Trouble with Cupcakes

I am really not much of a cake-eater. The truth is, I would take a slice of pie or an oatmeal cookie or a scoop of ice cream or sherbet over a cake any day of the week. I just don't share the appreciation that most people have for cake. At some point, I even started getting cheesecakes on my birthdays instead of the bright pink, frosting-laden creations that most of my friends adored. Cheesecake suited me just fine, thank you very much.

Still, there is something so iconic and so cheerful about cake that it seems, even to a non-cake-lover such as myself, that a person ought to feast on it at least once a year, shouldn't she? So, I broke my cake-avoiding-habit and used Mandi's birthday as an excuse to both bake and eat a cupcake. Mind you, a traditional cupcake was not in the plans. The unnecessary sweetness of frosting was avoided altogether, ingeniously replaced with a cheesecake-esque filling. "This is what cake was destined for," I thought when I my eyes perused the recipe.

A birthday-based visit from Mandi gave us the perfect opportunity for a second baking adventure as a team. On the day that the cupcakes were to be created, the kitchen was transformed into a bakery of sorts. Now, when I say "of sorts," what I mean is that true bakers would have been appalled to work in a setting so remiss in culinary planning. I made a few poor assumptions prior to baking day, one being that I had enough of the basics like flour and sugar. We managed with the flour, but found ran short on the sugar. 1/3 cup short. Not enough for the delicious, much-anticipated cheesecake part of the cupcakes. "Brown sugar will have to do," I decided, handing Mandi the bag. She went along with my plan, perhaps secretly wishing I had better prepared for her birthday cupcake-making extravaganza. Looking back, however, I think it was less the sugar replacement and more the distractions of sisterly conversation that got us into trouble. I set the oven for the recipe-recommended time, erring on the side of caution and going with the lesser 25 minutes. Well, when a timer is set, it's just about a good enough excuse to forget commitments altogether. The timer, of course, has it all under control.

Chatting away, laughing, and enjoying the pleasant aroma wafting from the kitchen, we thought little about checking the progress of our baking cake. By the time I finally made my way into the kitchen, the timer was still counting down the final three minutes. So, it was with unfounded confidence that I peeked through our oven window. I screamed slightly. Burnt cupcakes! Or, if not exactly burnt, certainly overdone. Golden brown wasn't exactly the look we were going for here. As I pulled the muffin tin from the oven, I began to wonder if our joint cooking adventures were simply bound to fail. Perhaps Mandi and I are more focused when we cook separately. Afterall, Mandi did almost lose a toe in our last "team effort." Goodness gracious.

Disappointed in our efforts, we promised to repeat the recipe (this time in our own separate kitchens) during the week. Maintaining focus, watching the cupcakes closely, and removing them from the oven a lot earlier (aim for 15-18 minutes) resulted in success. And, I must admit that I have eaten more than just one cupcake. These little cakes are good enough for even me to love. Without the golden-brown, crunchy, slightly burned top, I'd even go so far as to say that these cupcakes won me over. Imagine that. Me being won over by cake. Goodness gracious, indeed.

The Recipe: Cream Cheese Chocolate Cupcakes

from howaboutorange.blogspot.com

Filling:
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
1/8 tsp. salt
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. peanut butter chips (or just use more chocolate if you want)

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. baking cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 Tbs. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla

In a bowl, beat cream cheese. Add sugar, egg, salt. Mix well. Fold in chips. Set aside. For cupcakes, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Mix well. Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full with batter. Top each with 2 Tbs. of cream cheese mixture. Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes.* Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan. Makes 18.

*We found that 15-18 minutes was much better!