Grandma Gudgel's Black Bottom Cupcakes

"These are my husband's all time favorite cupcakes, so I just had to make them for him for Valentine's Day. There are three from scratch recipes on this site (all are the same). I read through the co..." See moreuntless reviews and I knew I wanted a rich, dark, chocolate cake for these - that being said here's what I did: I used 1/2 c. of Hershey's cocoa, 1 Tbsp. of pure vanilla, and replaced the water with strong brewed coffee and 2 tbsp. of half and half until it equaled 1 cup. I didn't change a thing with the cream cheese mixture except to add a little vanilla and make sure that the cream cheese and egg were at room temp. just as you do with cheese cakes. I used foil baking cups to bake these and got 18 cupcakes. Watch carefully - mine were done in 20 minutes not 30 -35. Cool and store in the fridge as they're best the next day."

"****EDIT: I just wanted to add this note. My mom used to make this as a cake (minus the cream cheese filling) in the 60's. Since I first saw this recipe, I've been racking my brain to remember what..." See more that cake was called. After a brief Google session it finally came back to me - Wacky Cake, aka Crazy Cake or Depression Cake. Anyway, I baked a batch of these today and they are so adaptable, lending themselves to any number of small changes as evidenced by the reviews. A hint to make them a "SURPRISE" cupcake: be sure to drop the cheese filling in a small spot in the center of each cake. That way as the cakes bake, the filling drops down and is covered up by the rising chocolate cake portion. ****** These are very good and a snap to make. Chocolate and cream cheese are such a great combination! This recipe yielded only 22 cupcakes for me. Maybe I filled my tins a little too full. Watch your baking time on these. I feel that 20 - 25 minutes is a better estimate. I did my first batch at 25 minutes and reduced the next to 20. On a purely personal note, I added a little more cocoa (about 1/3 instead of 1/4 cup) being a dark chocolate fan. I also added 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice to the cream cheese mixture."

"These were absolutely PERFECT! Even better than the expensive ones they sell at coffeehouses. I followed the recipe exactly and baked for 30 minutes for a picture-perfect product. Will make these o..." See morever and over again, much to my family and coworkers' delight!"