Chocolate Muffin with Creamy Phily Cheese Filling

I hardly write about sweet things on this blog, but that does not mean that I hardly make them! When the cold and gray hits and the kids act up, I need major backup power and sustenance. In the form of choc.o.late. They mostly come in packs of ferrero rocher, but I do like something warm and chocolatey out of the oven. I've had variations of warm and chocolatey out of the oven - with no flour, with olive oil, with ground almonds, with creamy cheesy filling, with gooey chocolate filling, with something crusty at the bottom, with nuts...the list is endless. And since I am baking them anyway, why not share them with the world so that you all can enjoy my sustenance too? After all chocolate is so life-sustaining that even mountaineers carry them around. And we all know how much stamina being a busy woman needs. So here is one of the recipes of stamina-giving life sustenance that is not only delicious, but you can actually rope one of your toddlers to help you with (while the other, thankfully, naps). And it is worth every bite and the mess you may have to clean up afterwards. (Note to self and other unsuspecting mothers - do not let your son lift the mixer from the bowl while the whisks are still rotating. Nobody likes that much chocolate that they want to paint their kitchen walls with it!)

(Adapted from the Sarotti Cocoa Recipe)
For the Chocolate Muffins

• 125g soft butter
• 90g white sugar
• 30g brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs

Beat  everything BUT the eggs together until it forms a light, whitish batter. And then add the eggs, one at a time and whisk for a few more minutes.

• 200g all purpose or cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 20g good quality cocoa (I used Sarotti Cocoa)

Mix the above dry ingredients together and sift them into another bowl.

Add the sifted dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until the mixture becomes chocolatey. Resist dipping your fingers into them for a taste. Then add the final ingredient:

• 150ml milk (I used organic full-fat)

This should make the cake dough lighter with a dropping consistency. At this point, ok you or your child can dip your finger to the side of the bowl (I'm trying to be hygenic here) for a taste.

For the Philly Cream Cheese Filling

• 100 g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 25 g sour cream
• 1 teaspoon of milk
• 2 teaspoons of sugar

Whisk everything together to form a smooth creamy paste. But frankly, I have also used the cream cheese direct from the carton, with no complaints.

And Now, To Bake It!

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Meanwhile take out your muffin tray and fill them up with 12 muffin cups. Fill up each muffin cup halfway with the chocolate cake batter, then 1 teaspoon of the creamy cheese filling, and then top it up with more cake batter until about almost full. This batter usually leaves me with 2 more muffin portions, which I bake in 2 ramekins and gives me a delightful 14 muffins altogether, instead of just 12 (woohooo!)

After only 20 minutes, take the muffins out of the oven and let them rest a while to cool for as long as you can smell without eating them. Then sit down with your little helper and watch his face light up as he eats the chocolate muffin he helped to bake. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is worth cleaning the chocolate splatter mess for. And the muffin is pretty darn delicious too!