Secret Kiss Cupcakes -- Something to Give When There’s Somebody

Last week of January. The cold has continued but flattened — twenty-five most mornings, forty-five most afternoons, no big swings, the steady cold of a real winter. The deer are yarded up in the bottoms — I see them on the trail cameras, browsing the cedar and the briar that they don't touch any other time of year. Winter food is hard food. The deer that survive February will be the strong ones.

I taught the first day of the spring cohort Wednesday. Eight new students. Three women — the highest count I've had. One older man, retired from the casino in Catoosa, who said his wife had pushed him to take the class because he needed something to do with his hands. He's sixty-nine. The youngest student is nineteen. The age range pleases me. The cohort works best when there's a spread — the older students teach the younger ones patience without trying to, the younger students teach the older ones speed without trying to.

The first day is always the same. We go around. Each student says what they want to make in the bay over the semester — their final project. I write it down. I tell them they can change it. I tell them they probably won't. The projects this semester include a fire poker, a small fence section, a mailbox post, an ornamental gate, a steel bookshelf, a bicycle repair (one student wants to learn to braze a bike frame), a knife (which I'll guide carefully — first knives are hard), and a steel sculpture of a deer (the older man, who said his wife wants one for the porch). I told him: that's an ambitious first project. He said: I've had a lot of time to think about it. I said: that helps. He smiled. He has good hands. We'll see.

Friday I drove to Tahlequah for a check-in with Hannah's nutrition team. They asked if I would do a one-day intensive workshop in March — knife-skills and butchery for a women's cooking program. I said yes. The fee was small. The fee is always small. The work is the kind of work you do anyway. Hannah was at the meeting. After it she said: thank you for saying yes. I said: I'd say yes anyway. She said: I know. But thank you. I said: you're welcome.

Caleb Saturday. We worked on a kitchen knife rack he wanted to fabricate as a Valentine's gift for nobody in particular — he said he'd use it himself if there wasn't somebody to give it to, but he was practicing for the eventuality. He said: I'm not dating. I said: I know. He said: but if I were. I said: this is the rack you'd give. He said: yeah. We finished the rack at five. It came out beautifully — clean welds, polished, with leather pads at the back so it wouldn't scratch a wall. He took it home. He said it would hang in his kitchen for now. He said: when there's somebody, she gets the rack.

Caleb made that knife rack for someone who doesn’t exist yet — made it carefully, made it well, hung it in his own kitchen until it’s needed. I thought about that on the drive home, and it put me in mind of these Secret Kiss Cupcakes I’ve made for years: something hidden at the center, something you only find when you get there, made with care in advance of the right moment. A cupcake for the eventuality. That felt right.

Secret Kiss Cupcakes

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 22 min | Total Time: 42 min | Servings: 24

Ingredients

• 1 box (15.25 oz) chocolate cake mix
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 24 milk chocolate kiss candies, unwrapped
• 1 container (16 oz) chocolate frosting
• Sprinkles or decorating sugar, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.
2. Mix the batter. Combine cake mix, water, oil, and 3 eggs in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until smooth. Set aside.
3. Make the filling. In a separate bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and granulated sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Add the remaining egg and mix until fully incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Fill the cups. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of chocolate batter into each liner, filling the bottom. Drop a rounded tablespoon of the cream cheese filling into the center of each cup. Press one chocolate kiss, point-side down, into the cream cheese filling so it is just covered.
5. Top and bake. Spoon another tablespoon of chocolate batter over each filled cup to cover the filling. Bake 20–22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake portion (avoiding the center filling) comes out clean. Do not overbake.
6. Cool completely. Let cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before frosting — at least 30 minutes.
7. Frost and finish. Spread or pipe chocolate frosting over each cupcake. Add sprinkles or decorating sugar if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 40g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 270mg