(Ruined) Red Velvet Cupcakes

So I ruined a batch of perfectly good mini red velvet cupcakes. It happens to everyone, right? At least that's what I'm going to tell myself. I used a recipe I've made at least 137 times before with great results so I'm assuming I left something out along the way. They tasted perfect but were ugly and spread out and refused to budge from their pan. The pan issue was something entirely different and a result of forgetting to spray it before I put the batter in. Non-stick my rear end. Anywho, this is what I pulled out of the oven:

Now, I'm not going to throw away a perfectly tasty batch of cupcakes. Presentation counts for a lot, so I won't share them outside of the house, but it's a rare husband and toddler that will walk by ANY cupcake, ugly or not. So Colin happily munched on cupcake tops that could be pried away from the pan and Dave finished off the remains after work.

For the few that were left after all that I made parfaits (more or less). I broke up the sad little cupcakes, drizzled melted dark chocolate, topped with cream cheese icing, and viola! Much prettier and almost intentional looking!

The cupcake and icing recipes are here. I promise, the cupcakes really do normally turn out fantastic. And the icing is cream cheese perfection. But on the off chance that you leave out an ingredient and forget to spray your pan, then parfait away!