The Ovens of Brittany bakery used to sell a chocolate muffin/cupcake with a cream cheese and chocolate chips stuffing, and they were called Farm Cakes. For a while in the 1980s, one of the Ovens bakers managed the bakery at one of the Steep & Brew Coffee cafes, and they sold them, too.
Here’s my version of Farm Cakes, using a hand mixed, mayo-for-shortening, chocolate cake. The best thing to use to mix up the batter is the type of flat whisk shown below – it’s for angel cake, to fold the egg whites in, but it’s also a good all-purpose mixer.
Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup mayo (can use reduced fat)
2 eggs
1 cup cold coffee (can use decaf)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
Combine the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt – in a large bowl. Stir the extracts into the coffee. Add the mayo, eggs, and half the coffee-extract mix to the dry ingredients. Mix well, and stir in the rest of the coffee.
Filling:
2/3 of an 8-oz. bar of cream cheese (about 6 oz.), softened
1 cup of mini chocolate chips
A few drops of almond extract (optional)
Place the cream cheese in a bowl, and add the chocolate chips, and extract if you’re using it. Mash together.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Line about 18 wells in two muffin pans with paper liners. Fill muffin cups 1/2 full. Drop abut 2 tsp of filling into each muffin. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until firm.
