This recipe from Pip in the City caught my eye, presumably due to the sinfully genius combination of chocolate and cream cheese.  The cupcakes, which are made in two parts (the cupcake base and the cream cheese topping), were pretty simple to make.

What you’ll need:

For the filling:
8 ounces cream cheese (I opted for fat-free)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (try Ghiradelli’s semi-sweet baking bar, which will leave an extra 2 ounces for snackage…Mmm)

For the cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon of salt 
1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

For the filling, simply mix the cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth. Stir in the chocolate pieces. Here’s how mine looked:

Now is a good time to set your oven to 350 degrees and start on the cupcake portion, which is a bit more involved but still easy.

For the cupcake:

1. Mix the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the water, oil vinegar and vanilla.

2. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir until smooth (Pip warns against overstirring, which may result in stiff cupcakes)

3. Prep a 12-cup muffin pan (butter or liners will do) and fill each cup about 3/4 full with cupcake batter.  Add a couple spoonfuls of the topping.

4. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the tops start browning. Pip offers a good tip to test the readiness of cupcakes: they should feel slightly springy when gently pressed.  I baked mine for 30 minutes and they were still super moist.

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Other notes:

I left the salt out. Accidently. But it was okay anyhow and offers an option for cholesterol-watchers.

Since oven temperatures vary slightly, be sure to check the cupcakes a few minutes before the scheduled pull-out time.  And remember, they bake an additional minute after leaving the oven.

I refrigerated my batch overnight and they were delicious cold.