Black bottom cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 10 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 ½ cups flour -- sifted
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins or liberally grease a cake/bundt pan.

Blend together the cream cheese, eggs and 2/3 cup of the sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Sift the remaining sugar, the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir in the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla; beat until smooth. Fill cupcake liners 1/3 full with the chocolate batter; spoon the cheese mixture on top. If using a cake or bundt pan, scrape the batter into the pan, then top with several layers of the cream cheese topping, spreading it thinly because it will sink in deeper after each application.

Bake until the cakes test done -- 30 to 35 minutes for cupcakes, 40 to 45 minutes for cake. Let cool 10 minutes before turning out on wire racks to cool completely.

Yields 24 cupcakes, or 12 servings of cake