Molten Chocolate Dog Terd's (Cupcakes)

I had a sudden inspiration yesterday to make a dessert- something chocolate and something DELISH....I scrounged through my cubbards to see what the gecko's and ants had left me unscathed (I just learned this word in a book I am reading so I thought I would use it on my blog!).  I grabbed a Betty Crocker Cake Mix- It was a Devil's Food Chocolate with a small little caption in the back left hand side corner 'MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES'- Oh Yes Ma'am I could make this recipe....I took one look at the online recipe and had high hopes of duplicating the same thing.

Betty Crocker's version of the Molten Cupcake

I noticed that that I did not have the 1/2 C of whipping cream that the recipe called for nor did I have the patience to wait for an hour for the chocolate that goes on the inside of the cupcake to cool down- But hey- It's all good :)
I substituted the whipping cream with milk- melted the chocolate chips and slammed the chocolate chip milk mixture into the freezer for the 5 minutes it was going to take me to mix up the cake mix-  Whipped up the cake mix, put the batter in the cupcake pan and put the still warm (kinda thin now that I think about it) chocolate Molten mixture into the center of each cake- put it in the oven and watched them rise........They were beautiful as I left on the oven light just to watch them rise- when I pulled them out of the oven they looked like something you would see in a bakery.
It wasn't until I went to take the cakes out of the pan that I realized that something may be wrong- Each one came out missing the bottom- and stuck to the bottom of the pan was a sticky cake like substance that smelled really strong of chocolate- I realized then why the recipe called for whipping cream to mix with the chocolate chips- It would make the chocolate mixture that went into the center of the cupcake batter thick- Also, allowing the chocolate mixture to completely cool would make it even thicker so that the bottom of the cupcake batter would have a chance to cook so that the molten chocolate would set up in the center-  My mixture was so thin and still so warm when I added it- it sunk right to the bottom of the cupcake pan and stuck there.
CRUD!!!
No worries, I had been watching Food Network and saw a really cute way to frost cupcakes- I would pipe homemade chocolate frosting (Thanks Rhon for the recipe) onto the top and overcompensate by making it thick and fluffy- who would notice the bottom if the top was super cute-
I just snapped a pic of what my Eli has dubbed the 'Dog Terd's'- He walked in just after I had piped the last of the frosting on and stood and stared- WHAT? I asked him (in that kinda annoyed voice that we- mothers can use sometimes) 'Looks like a dog terd' was his only reply as he grabbed one and walked off.............The more I looked at them the more I saw that I had indeed mixed the frosting the perfect color of a dog terd and the way I had swirled it on the top of the cupcake...well.......I should have seen it coming

1/2

cup whipping cream

1

cup semisweet chocolate chips

1

box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® devil's food cake mix

1

cup water

1/3

cup vegetable oil

3

eggs

1. In 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream over medium-high heat until hot but not boiling. Stir in chocolate chips until melted and mixture is smooth. Refrigerate about 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until thick.
2. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Grease and flour or spray with baking spray with flour 18 large (2 3/4x1 1/4-inch) muffin cups. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl constantly. Place 1/4 cup batter in each muffin cup. Spoon 1 tablespoon cold chocolate mixture on top of batter in center of each cup.
3. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool 1 minute. Carefully remove from pan; place on parchment paper. Cool 10 minutes. Frost with chocolate frosting. Just before serving, dust with powdered sugar. Garnish with strawberry slices. Serve warm.

Makes 18 cupcakes