i've meant to be here...

I've meant to be here blogging away. But (just as I'd imagined) I got lost in the great expanse of the internet. Worried that my words weren't important or that I'd blog about something embarrassing I kept quiet and have been avoiding be good - or at least be good at it entirely.

This past weekend we were invited to a birthday party for my brother-in-law. It was a casual gathering of friends (90% of whom we did not know) and was one of the most memorable Saturday nights we've had in a while. I even had a chance to make something scrumptious to bring along - Nutella Frosted Cupcakes!

Inspiration: See those little candies atop the cupcakes? Those were hazelnut filled eggs from a pre-Easter trip to Aldi's. On their own they weren't spectacular - but looking at them on the kitchen table one night I realized they were meant to become part of something larger...

Research: A quick perusal through the cabinets proved that I had a (gasp) box of Devil's Food Cake Mix that was aching to leave my house. I couldn't ethically bring a boxed cake to a party - so I spent some time on Chowhound finding the perfect additions for pure chocolate bliss. I wound up with an adaptation of the Cake Mix Doctor's Darned Good Chocolate Cake.

1 box Devil's Food cake mix
1 small box vanilla instant pudding
2 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa
1 cup fat free sour cream
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup warm water
4 eggs
2 handfuls of semi-sweet mini chips

Bliss: Nutella Frosting. Pure heaven in your mouth. The Delicious Cook hooked me up with quite possibly the best frosting recipe EVER. Butter, Nutella and powdered sugar come together with a few drops of milk to create heaven in your mouth. Seriously.

These cupcakes flew off the platter and into the mouths of party guests before the appetizers were finished. Thankfully we had stashed a few licks of the frosting in the 'fridge for later!