Southern Chocolate Cupcakes

6 oz semisweet chocolate pieces
1 cup butter
8 egg yolks
4 egg whites
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 cups sifted cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

~ Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave and mix until combined; set to the side to cool.

~ Separate egg yolks from egg whites, and divide the whites into two separate bowls. Beat the egg yolks until thickened and add half the sugar.

~ Alternate adding milk and dry ingredients, mixing until combined. Add cooled chocolate and butter mixture.

~ Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

~ In a separate bowl, beat 4 egg whites and the remaining half of the sugar until light and fluffy and stiff peaks form.

~ Gently fold in egg whites into the chocolate cake batter.

~ Fill prepared cupcake liners approximately 3/4 full with batter. Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from tins and let cool on a wire rack.

~ Frost with your favorite frosting.

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

The addition of the mini chocolate chips in the cream cheese mix adds a perfect texture to the “surprise” filling. The cream cheese was actually not as prominent as I would have liked it to be, and actually the next time I make these I’m going to play around with it a bit and add some sour cream to the mix and see how that works out.

The cupcakes stayed moist in the fridge with plastic wrap and were devoured within two days! This is definitely a keeper.

This particular version of the recipe comes from Worth Her Salt.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 c sugar
1/8 t salt
1 c miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c sugar
1/4 c cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c water
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 T cider vinegar
1 t vanilla extract

~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.

~ In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.

~ In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture.

~ Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Lots of yummy chocolate creations this week! Check out:

~ Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes at Miss Cupcake Face

~ Mocha Chocolate Cookies at Baked Alaska

~ Bittersweet Chocolate and Cardamom Cupcakes at Tartlette

~ Chocolate Thumbprints at The Food Librarian

~ Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Spice Cream Cheese Frosting at Pinch My Salt

~ Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies at Cinemon Girl

~ Fall Chocolate Cookies at Priscilla’s Baking Adventures

~ S’more-dillas at Chaos in the Kitchen

~ Mini Brioches Filled With Chocolate Truffle at Baking for the Cure

~ Quintuple Chocolate Brownies at Dreamy Desserts

~ M&M Studded Fudgy Oreo-Chunk Brownies at The Recipe Girl

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

This guest post was written by Linette at Mother Earth’s Garden and The Kid’s Birthday Fun Review:

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I’m a huge gardening fan, and I also love to plan parties. So when I found out I had the opportunity to write something for Chocolate Bytes I decided I would combine those two favorites with my favorite food, chocolate. Yum!

I enjoy decorating cakes and cupcakes. One of my favorite cupcake decorating tricks is to use molded chocolates as a topper. Molding chocolate can be a very simple process, even if you’re using several colors.

What you will need:

~ Melting chocolate, regular and white

~ Melting colored (pink, green, yellow, blue) chocolate or coloring made for chocolate to add to the white chocolate.

~ Parchment decorating bags, or squeeze bottles (Wilton makes squeeze bottles specifically for chocolate molding).

~ Chocolate molds, I prefer the molds you can add a stick to, then you have the option to make a lollipop to stand up on your cupcake, or lay the chocolate directly on the cupcake (without the stick).

~ A small glass or ceramic bowls to melt the chocolate in.

Making Your Chocolate Cupcake Decorations:

If you’re making the cupcakes for a party, find chocolate molds to match your party theme. I made some fun flower and gardening chocolates, since I’ve been celebrating Spring.

Pick the colors you want your chocolates to be. You can keep it simple and make your chocolates one or two colors. I like to add multiple colors of chocolate to make interesting cupcake toppers. Melt your chocolates according to the directions on the package. Most can be melted in the microwave.

You can purchase colored chocolate melts, or make your own colors with coloring made specifically for chocolate. Don’t try to use regular food coloring, most will jell up your chocolate and make it difficult to work with. Mix the colors well after the chocolate has melted.

To add colors to small spaces use a parchment cake-decorating bag and pipe the chocolate into the mold. You can use a small round decorating tip, but I prefer to use the bag with a small hole in the tip. Melt the chocolate before you put it in the bag. If the chocolate starts to stiffen up before your finished working with it, zap it in the microwave for a few seconds at a time. Repeat until the chocolate is soft enough to work with again. You can microwave the chocolate in the decorating bag, or squeeze bottle.

Add your chocolate colors one at a time, and allow them to dry before you add another color of chocolate to the same mold. Finish with the color you want to fill in the remainder of the mold with, or the color you will be using the most. Add a lollipop stick if you want the chocolates to stand on your cupcakes.

Lay the molds aside to cool and harden. I have no patience, so I like to place mine in the freezer for a couple minutes to speed up the process.

Once the chocolate has cooled and hardened carefully remove it from the mold. Ice your cupcakes, and insert the chocolate lollipops. I love to decorate with chocolate because you can make the decorations stand up, it’s not as delicate as icing, and but it’s still edible. A little extra special treat for your party guests.

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[Thank you so much, Linette!]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes