My Smurf House Cupcake

I've been meaning to learn how to bake cupcakes, so I got 2 new muffin pans last week since I was inspired by a colleague. I thought I'd try baking some cupcakes using the mix that Maya Kitchen gave me when I attended the cheesecake class. I told myself that baking using a mix would make me comfortable working on a more complicated recipe later on. So I got myself to work yesterday and here's how the cupcakes looked like.

For the life of me I have no idea why the middle part of the cupcake expanded. I have a couple of theories -- may have overmixed it or maybe because I did not put a water pan under. Beats me, but I'll likely do some research on it so I don't make the same mistake.

A couple of friends said they look like muffins. My friend, Chelle, says that they look like a Smurf's house. Another friend says they'll look like a monster on a game if I decorated them.

So I shall call my first cupcakes, the Smurf House Cupcake. For all it's worth, it turned out okay. Here's the proof:

And well... they're all gone now. Haha.

Happy to hear any cupcake baking advise if you have any.