Cointreau Lemon Funfetti Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting!

It's 6am, coffee's brewing, and I'm craving pancakes...mmm... but instead what do I see in the pantry? Halloween themed funfetti cake mix that I have yet to use!!! Naturally, I change my course of action and pick it up to make myself some funfetti pancakes (too much sugar in the morning was a bad choice), and decide to share the wealth (and the sugar high) by making my coworkers and friends some cupcakes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. The box asks to add 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, 1 cup of water, and three eggs to the cake mix and stir together until there are no lumps, then add the FUN-fetti. I added 1 lemon's zest and 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract to the batter to give it more flavor. Pour the batter into the cupcake wrappers about 2/3 of the way full and pop it in the oven for about 20-22 minutes.
While they're puffing up in there, you can make the Nutella frosting. I personally don't like a lot of frosting, so I made a little bit to put on top of half of the cupcakes (12). I used 1 tablespoon of butter (room temperature), 1/2 teaspoon of powered sugar, and 2 big tablespoons of Nutella, mix well together and voila!!! If it's a little too thick, add a tiny bit of milk or cream until it's at your ideal consistency. It's slightly disturbing how much I love incorporating that chocolate hazelnut yumminess in the little baking I do.
Already one cup of Joe down, and the cupcakes are perfectly golden brown. While they are still slightly warm, I've got my Cointreau liquor ready (I know, it's 6:30AM!), and a bamboo skewer to poke in the middle of my cupcakes so I can pour a little bit of the Cointreau inside each one of them. I used one of those mini bottles for all 24 cupcakes, so don't go crazy with the alcohol here. If you don't know what Cointreau is, it's a brand of triple sec from France, delicious by itself as an aperitif or digestif (a.k.a. before or after a meal drink), or in cocktails (cosmopolitan, margaritas, etc).

And now the waiting game...cool down so I can lather you up in frosting...and eat you!!

TADA!

Cointreau infused Lemon Funfetti Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting.

Hope you enjoy!

- Chef Cat