What’s Black and White and Yummy All Over?

This is one of those recipes that I originally made a reallly long time ago, but was definitely worth the wait before it made its starring appearance here on the blog. I brought these to a birthday party at work and they were a big hit.

Black Bottom Cupcakes (adapted from here)

What You’ll Need

White Filling

• 1 (8 oz.) package fat free cream cheese
• 1 egg (or ¼ cup egg substitute)
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Black Filling

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup water
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

What To Do

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a muffin tin with Pam or butter, or, alternately, line with paper cups.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the ingredients for the white filling (cream cheese, egg, sugar, and salt.) Fold in the chocolate chips afterwards.

In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients for the black filling (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.)

Gradually add the wet ingredients (water, vinegar, oil, vanilla) to the dry mix. Mix well; the batter will be thin.

Fill the muffin cups ⅓ full with the chocolate batter. Top with one large spoonful of the white filling.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

You’ll know these are done when the white portion of the cupcakes starts to turn a slight golden brown.

Although it may be sacrilege to say this, I’m not a huge cheesecake fan. I find its richness to be overwhelming, and I can usually only get through a bite or two of the pure, unadulterated versions. I do, however, love the flavor when there’s something else to cut through the creaminess of cheesecake, and these were a perfect example. The strong but not overpowering chocolate portion is a great counterpart to the cheesecake portion, and the chocolate chips provide enough texture to keep these from getting too mushy of a texture.

On top of the great taste, they look pretty darned impressive when you’re eating them. Everyone you share them with will be sure to think you spent much longer slaving away in the kitchen than you actually did – don’t spill the beans that these are a cinch to cook!

Corn Spoon Bread

Growing up, we always spent Christmas Day at my Uncle Mike and Aunt Linda’s house. Aunt Linda, aka The Kitchen Nazi, always made a delicious spread for the holiday, but one dish has always stuck out in my mind. Her corn pudding always disappeared quickly because it was rich, comforting, slightly sweet but oh so savory. I don’t know why I never thought to make this before now, but I’m so glad I finally did! The version I made isn’t exactly the same as the one from my childhood, but it sure brings back all those delectable memories.

Corn Spoon Bread (adapted from here)

What You’ll Need:

• 1 8 oz. package of fat free cream cheese, softened
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 cup skim milk
• ½ cup egg substitute
• 1 16 oz. bag of frozen corn, thawed
• 1 14.75 oz. can cream style corn
• 1 8.5 oz. package corn bread/muffin mix (I used Jiffy)
• 2 tablespoons margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Dash pepper

What To Do:

Preheat your oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese and the sugar until it is smooth and uniform.

Slowly drizzle in the milk and beat until smooth.

Add the Egg Beaters, margarine, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Continue to beat until smooth.

Add the frozen corn and creamed corn; mix well.

Add the cornbread mix and stir until moistened and no clumps remain, but do not over-mix. Pour into a greased (or sprayed with Pam) casserole dish.

Bake for about 90 minutes, or until a toothpick/knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

This was everything I remembered and was hoping for. It was creamy, gooey, slightly sweet and slightly salty, and just a perfect custardy consistency. I served this with my spicy pork chops and escarole and beans, and it complimented both foods beautifully. You can also cook this spoon bread in a slow cooker – just grease the slow cooker bowl and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for about 6-8. I will definitely be making this year round since it is so simple to make and is so flat out yummy!