Black Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes

Combine cream cheese, sugar, and egg until sugar has dissolved and mixture is thick and smooth. Put mixture into a zip lock bag and leave to one side.

Preheat oven to 160C (fan forced) and line cupcake tray with 12 patty cases.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, add water, cocoa, Vanilla Extract and Black Food Colour Gel and mix well to form a thick paste. Add to butter and egg, and mix until well combined pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl and ensure there are no streaks of un-coloured mixture. Stir through sour cream and then add flour, mixing until smooth.

In a separate bowl combine bicarbonate of soda and vinegar - the mix will fizz up. Give it a good stir then add to cupcake batter and mix until just combined.

Scoop the cupcake mixture evenly into 12 patty cases. Snip off the corner of your zip lock bag and use it like a piping bag to add the cheesecake to the centre of your cupcakes. Press the corner into the middle of one of your cupcakes and squeeze gently, your cupcake will expand a little, stop squeezing and remove the zip lock bag – you’ve just filled your cupcake with cheesecake! You can also use spoons to add the cupcake mixture, cheesecake mixture, and then top with some more cupcake mixture.

Bake on the middle shelf of your oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the side of your cupcake has a few damp crumbs clinging to it, or the top of the cupcake springs back when gently pressed. Baked cheesecakes will puff up when cooking and shrink when they cool, so your cupcakes will appear to deflate a little when they’ve cooled. Allow to cool while making icing.

To make the icing, start by combining the icing sugar, cocoa, Black Food Colour Gel and butter in the bottom of stand mixer. Mix on low with the paddle attachment until the butter is incorporated into the icing sugar and cocoa. Once the butter is incorporated, start adding the chilled cream cheese to the mix. When all the cream cheese has been added, increase speed and beat until mixture is thick and creamy. Slow the mixer and add Natural Vanilla Extract mixing until smooth and glossy. If it’s too thick, add some more water a little at a time until icing is easy to pipe and holds its shape.