Black Bottom Cupcakes

I have a second batch of these in the oven as we speak, and yes it is 12.30am. I do all my best baking at night and we have 'Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte' on (we're on a bit of a Bette Davis kick at the moment) Last Saturday night Richard and I were craving something sweet, and all I could think about were cupcakes. Seriously, obsessing over the idea. There was a bit of a debate over chocolate versus vanilla (chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting? with vanilla frosting? vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting?) and then I stumbled upon these while browsing Joy of Baking. I'd never even heard of Black Bottom cupcakes, but the thought of Devils Food Cake and cheesecake in a cup was just about the end of me. The best part was that we actually had all the ingredients, and we never have cream cheese (I'd been intending to make carrot cake, still hasn't happened).

They were pretty simple to whip up, and not surprisingly we couldn't wait for them to cool before testing them. They were out of control. Seriously, still warm dark chocolate cake with a melty cheesecake filling. Why had I never heard of these before??

I didn't think it could possibly get any better than that, but the next day after having a pancake brunch we had some left over blackberry and strawberry sauce so that afternoon Richard and I decided to pour some over our cupcakes. Absolute heaven! There was even enough sauce left to be used as an impromptu jam on my toast the next morning. Yum! It was a good food weekend. I'm not sure how normal it is to get quite as excited (read: hand clapping in delight) about good food as I do, but there you go.

Easter Break

Oh Creme Eggs, how I love thee. Really though, in Canada they're nothing like the ones at home, but I'm not going to say no. This is my second one today, there was a 2 for 1 offer so I basically had no choice. Yum.

Our Easter break has been lovely and relaxing so far, although sadly Richard has gotten the cough that I've been trying to shake for the last....month, or so. Go away bugs! I've been meaning to get a bunch of stuff done, but instead we've been sleeping in, watching movies, reading and drinking tea. I tried making hot cross buns yesterday, which I was so excited about, but when I pulled them out of the oven they were flat and doughy. I tried to convince myself that, you know 'they're just meant to be really moist', haha. When re-reading the recipe today I realised that 200 degrees was of course celsius and not farenheit. Argh! I'm not quite sure why it didn't seem to cool to me, but I think I just thought it was some fancy type of recipe with egg washes and sugar glazes and....a quick blitz in a really cool oven. Haha, oh well. I'll try again tomorrow.

In other Easter weekend news, we're off to see Marissa Nadler tonight and I am so, so excited. She is one of my favourite artists, such a haunting and beautiful voice. It's going to be at the Media Club, so I'm hoping for a lovely intimate show with knitting and a few drinks.

Hope you are all enjoying your long weekend!
xx