These are the "I Hate the Heat, Kill Me Now" Cupcakes

I knew things were not going to go right tonight, especially after I saw I was out of liners and had to use these fancy ones that were a tad too big for my pan.  Oh, and then I thought I ran out of sugar so I had to start preparing a Swiss Meringue Buttercream instead of regular, Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream.

Strike 1 - The one bowl dark chocolate cake mixed well but did not bake evenly.  After after a few additional minutes they just looked blah, not to mention the liners puckered.

Strike 2 - Swiss Meringue Buttercream never peaks, I tried chilling it but it never thickened up.  Never even got to the step of adding strawberry. That was the last of the bulk of my butter so I had to put on my thinking cap.  A ganache would not have been the correct resolution because some family members hate it and well, I'm not eating 2 dozen cupcakes.

Strike 3 - Decided on a Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting using the strawberry puree I made earlier.  Things looked pretty good until I started to pipe and the hell pit that is my kitchen starting melting everything.  I was so aggravated at this point, I just slopped it on, adding some sugar and called it a night.

Finished Product - Dark Chocolate Cupcake with a Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

I would flunk the presentation portion of Cupcake Wars today :(