I should have quit while I was ahead

It's been a LONG time since I've thrown out a dessert (I mean, really, are they ever THAT bad?) but I did today. I should have known better too. The entire process turned out to be a comedy of errors. I even thought to myself "maybe there have been one too many issues here. Turn back now? Naw." I should have listened.

But I decided to post them anyway. I figure I can't be the only one who has bad baking days!

I can't say for sure what went wrong, so for now I'm blaming the recipe. ;) I did half the original (which is posted) and thank goodness because I probably would have cried if I'd had to throw out 17 chocolate and cream cheese-based anything. I'm pretty confident in my dividing abilities, having a degree in math and all, so I don't think that was it. I under-baked by five minutes because they started looking a little scary brown for cream cheese and they still turned out dry and pretty non-chocolaty.

So, if you see a glaring error in the recipe, let me know. If not, I wouldn't bother.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:

3/4 pound (one and a half 8-ounce package) cream cheese (not softened)
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

CUPCAKES:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil (preferably canola)
1 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with 18 cupcake papers

TO MAKE THE CREAM CHEESE FILLING:

• In a medium-sized bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Add the egg and beat well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside.
• This was actually really tasty at this stage. Once cooked, not so much. I don't know if I could use it for something else. It has a raw egg in it, so I'm thinking a filling wouldn't do. Maybe leave out the egg and inject into the middle of a chocolate cupcakes?
  

TO MAKE THE CUPCAKES:

• In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the oil and sugar.
• This is what happens when you're not careful with your cocoa scooping.
  

• Add the dry ingredients into two parts, alternating with buttermilk and vanilla, and making sure all the ingredients are well blended.
• This is when I started to really worry. This is the thickest batter I've ever seen. It's almost cookie dough.
  

• Carefully spoon the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about two-thirds full. Drop a small scoop (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) of the cream cheese filling on top of each cupcake.

• Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
• This is at 25 minutes.

• Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 30 minutes. Remove the tins and cool completely on a wire rack.