Chocolate Cupcakes

Yesterday we had a small celebration for Connor's birthday. Instead of the traditional cake, I decided to recreate something I saw at Coldstone Creamery. It's a chocolate cupcake shell, with cupcake in the bottom, a scoop of ice cream on top and then whipped cream to look like frosting. It looked delicious but a little too pricey for me. So I decided to recreate it myself. I sadly forgot to take photos while making them, but did take one of the finished product. 

The hardest part was figuring out how to make the shell. I ended up using 2 jumbo foil cupcake wrappers. I melted semi-sweet chocolate chips in a bowl (about 2 handfuls per shell), then sprayed pam on the inside of one wrapper. I used a big spoon to scoop some chocolate into the bottom of the wrapper, then scraped some more along the rim. I took the second wrapper and pammed the outside of it, then pushed it into the chocolate until it seemed like it took the correct form. I refrigerated the chocolate for a couple hours until hard. 

Next, I made a batch of cupcakes that were normal sized. I cut off the tops and put the bottom part in the shell. I topped with a scoop of ice cream and some whipped cream. I made my own cake mix and whipped cream, but you could always use store-bought. 

Here's a top view:

They were super yummy but a little too involved to make in a large quantity. I made 11 and it took probably a total of 2 hours to make them, not including refrigeration and baking times. 

I definitely recommend trying them though! I had one extra and put it in the fridge. The ice cream melted and absorbed into the cake making it extra mushy. Mmmmm. 

Oh, and I took the cupcake tops and made a chocolate trifle. Layer the cupcakes, chocolate pudding, and cool whip in that order. Repeat for a second layer and you're done. I usually use Entenmann's Chocolate Fudge Cake, but figured this would be just as yummy. Hubby is bringing it to work tomorrow so I'll let you know how they like it.