Black Bottom Cupcakes

A moist & delicious cupcake my Grandma Burkholder used to make & then my Mom used to make. I was the only kid in elementary school whose Mom used to bring this kind of cupcake & they were the favorite!! They're like having a moist chocolate cake with a little cheesecake in the middle!! Everyone else's Mom made cupcakes from a boxed cake, boooo. BTW... the demerara sugar just really makes the tops of these cupcakes shine & look professional versus regular sugar.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 24
• Yields: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups flour
• 1  cup sugar
• 1⁄4 cup cocoa powder
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1  cup water
• 1⁄3 cup canola oil
• 1  tablespoon white vinegar
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 8  ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1  egg
• 1⁄3 cup sugar
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
• 1  cup  semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1⁄3 cup demerara sugar
• 1⁄3 cup  sliced almonds
• 24  cupcake liners
•  Pam cooking spray (or any non-stick spray, but NOT the one with flour in it)

Directions

1. Sift the first five ingredients together (flour, 1c sugar, cocoa, soda, 1/2 tsp salt). In a separate bowl whisk together the water, oil, vinegar, & vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients & whisk together. This will be a thin batter.
2. In a SEPARATE BOWL mix the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 c sugar, 1/8 tsp salt together. Then stir in the chocolate chips.
3. If you don't want to use the cupcake liners then you MUST generously butter the cupcake pans. Otherwise, drop in the paper liners & give a little spritz of Pam in each cupcake.
4. Fill each cup about 1/3 full with the chocolate batter, then drop a heaping teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture in the center.
5. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar. (And sliced almonds if you like).
6. Bake at 350 until the "cheesecake center" is firm.