For the cake

1. Preheat your oven to 325°F and prepare your cupcake pans. I like to use glassine liners.
2. Break the milk chocolate bar into pieces and place them in a microwave safe dish. Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until the chocolate is completely melted.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the melted chocolate, cake mix, flour, pudding mix, water, sour cream, oil, and eggs. Beat on low until the ingredients are incorporated and then on high for 2 more minutes. The batter will be smooth and thick.
4. Scoop into your cupcake liners (I like to use a 2 tablespoon scoop to fill my cupcake liners… I do a heaping scoop per cupcake), and bake for 19 minutes.

For the Coconut Pecan Frosting

1. Place the evaporated milk, sugar, butter, egg yolks and vanilla in a large boiler over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and golden brown. This took about 12 minutes for me. Remove from the heat, stir in the coconut and pecans, and allow it to cool to room temperature (I stuck mine in the frig – it got a little too thick, but it worked!). It’ll take at least 30 minutes to cool to room temperature if left out.

For the Milk Chocolate Buttercream

1. Chop up the chocolate bars and place them in a small microwave safe bowl. Heat the chocolate in 30 second increments until completely melted. Set it aside and let it cool.
2. Once the chocolate has cooled, in a large bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and add in the vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.
3. Gradually pour the cream into the frosting while mixing. Once the cream mixture is thoroughly mixed into the frosting, fold cooled milk chocolate into the frosting. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high, and beat frosting for an additional 3 minutes.

Assembly

1. When the cupcakes are cooled, pipe the milk chocolate frosting around the outer edge of the cupcake – forming a “bowl” in the center. I used a 1M tip for this. Then using a tablespoon, scoop a dollop of the Coconut Pecan Frosting into the center of each cupcake.