Chocolate velvet?

Tomorrow is the twilight party, and I planned to make red velvet cupcakes. However, Trader Joes only sells buttermilk in quart containers. I've been too busy on the weekend to make myself a decent breakfast, such as buttermilk pancakes, so I had to figure out something to do with the rest of the buttermilk.

A coworker had a bbq at his house today, so I decided to make some cupcakes. My version of red velvet, but kicked up a notch. I guess they're chocolate velvet? Its the Waldorf-Astoria recipe, minus the red food coloring, with less flour and more cocoa powder, and of course since that's not enough, I baked it with some chocolate ganache/glaze in the center. To top it off, I made some pink tinted Italian meringue. It had the same texture as the red velvet cupcake from Sugar Butter Flour, but I do enjoy the lightness of the meringue frosting. I'm definitely keeping this altered recipe in my arsenal.

Cross section of the cupcake: