Passionist Cupcakes for St. Paul of the Cross

The following post was submitted by Marcia, from I Wonder Why.  Thank you Marcia!

Saint Paul of the Cross means a lot to our family. In 2001 after visiting his tomb, we joined our family life to the Rule of St. Paul of the Cross. Today is his feast day and I tried something new.

This is how my counter looked before I started cooking. And here is the final result. I made heart shaped black bottom cupcakes. They were big hit. They reminded us of the symbol that Passionists wear on their habit and were delicious!

You can also see we put our relics of St. Paul of the Cross and St. Gemma Galgani in a special place on our table today.

Passionist Cupcakes

adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup white sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/3 cup white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup sugar, oil and water until blended. Stir in the vinegar and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture until incorporated. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups 1/3 full with chocolate batter, then top with a heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes.

St. Paul of the Cross, Pray for Us!