Mom's Filled Cupcakes

A treat from my childhood... I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before that we ALWAYS had dessert in our house growing up. These filled cupcakes were a regular in rotation. One of the classics like chocolate chip cookies, no-bake cookies, Texas sheet cake, etc. Hmmm... curious that they all have chocolate. I guess I was destined to liked chocolate. The cupcakes are a moist chocolate cake with a cheesecake-like portion in the middle and a simple sprinkle of powdered sugar on top.

I must have requested the recipe from my mom several years ago, but never actually made these myself until now. I dug out the email that I had printed from my mom in 2005. Here it is. Let me warn you - the chocolate cupcake really has no egg. I read this recipe at least three times thinking, "There must be a typo. Mom must have forgotten to type in the egg or eggs in the cupcake ingredients."  The only cupcakes I remember seeing without eggs were the vegan ones Katie made a few months ago. Surely my mom wasn't making vegan cupcakes when I was a kid. So I called her, but she wasn't home (and I really wanted to make these cupcakes) and I didn't want to waste all of the ingredients to only have the cupcakes turn out flat without egg. So I called my younger sister, hoping she had made these cupcakes before. She was home - whew! AND she confirmed that indeed the cupcake batter does not have any egg. 

Now to save you the mental turmoil of worrying that the cupcake will be a failure without egg - don't worry - they work perfectly. My mom did not skip the egg in the email in error. Sorry for ever doubting you, Mom.

Mom's Filled Cupcakes

filling:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese (softened)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 egg 

1 (6 oz) package chocolate chips (1 cup)

cupcake:

2 cups granulated sugar

3 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup cooking oil (I used canola oil)

2 cups water

4 teaspoons vanilla

powdered sugar for dusting

Make the filling... Combine first the first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl using an electric mixer. Blend until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Set aside.

Make the cupcake batter... Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl (sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda). Add the water, oil, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until well blended (batter will be thin). 

Line muffin/cupcake pans with paper liners. Fill each liner 1/3 full with cupcake batter. Top with a heaping teaspoon of filling. Cover with a little more cupcake batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cool and dust with powdered sugar before serving. Enjoy!

I attempted to improve upon my mom's classic recipe by adding a cream cheese frosting and mini chocolate chips in place of the traditional powdered sugar. It just wasn't the same. I suggest sticking with the powdered sugar. Lesson learned... don't mess with an already fantastic recipe.

One note: I remember the ratio of cheesecake filling to chocolate cake having more cheesecake-like filling when I was a kid. I think next time I may double the filling amount and reduce the chocolate cupcake batter some. These were still delicious as is. Hope they become a new favorite for you too!