Black Bottom Muffins
Happy New Year everyone!
I trust you had a wonderful festive season and are all geared up for 2011. I think that this is going to be a very busy year for me. It's not that I've put new year's resolutions on a list somewhere, it just feels like it will be.
For starters, I really want to post new articles on my site more frequently. Since I started working last year I haven't had as much free time, as you can imagine, so I haven't been posting new recipes at the same rate as when I started my site.
cheesecake batter
beginnings of chocolate batter
I think the problem is that when I do think of recipes to put up, they're normally time consuming and/or something sweet. So either I don't have the time or I want to avoid having temptation around the house. (This will be a year of better eating!)
So, I'm going to start posting simpler recipes in between the normal ones. This recipe, although it is sweet, it's also really simple. But don't be fooled, sometimes it's the easiest recipes that are the best.
the black bottom of the muffin
dollops of cheesecake batter
I'd never heard of black bottom muffins before but a friend had asked me if I could make them. They're one of his favourites and he hadn't had them in a while. When I looked them up they didn't seem like anything special. A simple chocolate sponge with a dollop of cheesecake on top.
They also didn't look like anything special. Kind of messy, all imperfect and not even a pretty swirl of frosting to make them more appealing.
baked and cooling
Oh well! I thought I'd give them a try anyway, after all, I had promised to make them.
Boy was I surprised when I had my first one. Where they're not pretty, that's made up by the taste. I don't know why the combination of chocolate sponge and baked cheesecake works so well, but it does. They're not overly sweet so will make a lovely weekend breakfast treat, straight out of the oven would be even better.
The original recipe has chocolate chips in the cheesecake batter, but what I decided to do was to lose the chocolate chips and drizzle some melted chocolate on top instead, for appearance really. You could do either, or both! In fact, I think that these would be really good with a few fresh raspberries baked into the cheesecake. Yum!
Fresh out the oven or saved away as a treat for the afternoon, black bottom muffins are easy to make and oh so tasty!
January desktop calendar
And now, they can also be your desktop wallpaper! Once a month I'm going to make a new desktop calendar for you to download and use as your background. So, for the first of the series, simple black bottom muffins for a busy new year :) Scroll to the bottom of the page to download the wallpaper.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
Makes 12 muffins
Cheesecake Filling
225g Cream Cheese (8oz block), slightly chilled (out the fridge for an hour or so)
1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
60g Dark Chocolate Chips (optional)
A few squares Dark Chocolate for drizzling (optional)
Chocolate Sponge
1 1/2 cups Plain Flour
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Cocoa
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Water
1/3 cup Sunflower/Canola/Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp White Vinegar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted)
- Line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners
- Beat cream cheese until smooth
- Add sugar, egg & vanilla then beat until combined
- Mix in chocolate chips if you're adding them
- Set aside
- Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt
- In a small bowl or jug, combine water, oil, vinegar and vanilla
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it
- Stir to combine and mix until smooth
- Tip: I find it easiest to use a whisk instead of a wooden spoon
- Divide chocolate batter evenly between cupcake liners
- Drop a spoonful of the cheesecake batter on to the chocolate batter in the middle
- Bake for 25-28mins, until the top is slightly golden and cupcake is springy to the touch
- Cool on a wire rack in the pan for about 5 mins then remove muffins and cool completely on a cooling rack
- Drizzle with melted chocolate (optional)
- Tip: Or eat them while still warm with a cup of coffee!!
Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking whose source was a David Lebovitz recipe
Other Tips
Store in an airtight container in the fridge or out the fridge in a cool place for 3-4 days
Add fresh raspberries or blueberries to the cheesecake batter for a bit of chocolate berry cheesecake bliss!
January's Black Bottom Muffins Desktop Calendar:
Your screen resolution is shown below. Click on the file that's closest to your resolution. When it opens, right click and save the image to your machine.
For a Windows machine, follow these instructions to set the image as your wallpaper/desktop background.
For a Mac, follow these instructions to set your new background image.
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Black Bottom, Cheesecake, Chocolate, Cupcake, Muffin in Baked, Sweet 
Reader Comments (6)
Oh yum, these look fantastic!!
mands..boy do I have a lot of catching up to do here! These muffins look gorgeous, love the way you wrapped them up..so pretty and festive! I also adore those fridge cookies, your photos just bring out the mouth watering factor to the 100th degree!
That said - Thank you for that link, but I'll phone you before the week is over..a lot about that and other stuff :) Happy New Year again, my friend *hugs*
Yeah, I've been busy! Hoping to be more busy on my blog this year :)
Thank you for your glowing compliments, really makes a girl feel good!
Looking forward to a chat, anytime from Friday evening my time is great. Chat soon & Happy New Year :D
What incredible muffins! Having this as a desktop picture would be dangerous for me. I already starting drooling. As stunning as the picture is, it would mean big trouble for my thighs daaahling.
*kisses* HH
Those look completely delicious! I'm trying to learn to be a better baker this year (I'm making muffins tonight!), or at least more of a baker. Sometimes I crave sweets but I never buy them because I don't want to have them in the house AND I think Pollan has it right when he says you can eat sweets as long as you make them yourself since they're not full of processed gunk. SO I am bookmarking this for a time when I am feeling adventurous and bakerly. Wonderful!
Liz, these really are delicious! They're really quick and easy to make and take such little effort that they're just perfect for whipping up on a whim for any kind of baker :)
That's a great philosophy about only eating sweet things that you make yourself. I think home baked treats taste better anyway :)