save the day cupcakes (a.k.a. vanilla cupcakes with milk chocolate buttercream frosting)

at work i have become "the birthday girl."  every time there is a birthday in my office, my co-workers look to me to pass around a birthday card for everyone to sign.  i did it once when i began working there and now it seems to have stuck with me.  (i actually now started keeping a stash of greeting cards in my desk drawer at work so that i don't have to make a mad dash to the card store each month.)  somehow i have also become responsible for bringing dessert to work for these birthdays too.  don't get me wrong, i love baking, but after a while this gets to be a bit ridiculous.

i'm usually pretty good about remembering all of the birthdays (mainly because i keep a little "cheat sheet" on my desktop with a list of them each month).  however, this week, one of the birthdays snuck up on me.  i came into work on monday morning and realized that it was someone's birthday . . . and i was empty handed.  luckily, the birthday girl had planned to take a vacation day on her birthday and she wasn't in work.  so, i quickly grabbed the very last birthday card out of my desk (now i need to replenish my stash) and walked it up and down the hallway for everyone to sign.

when i got home from work, i whipped up a batch of vanilla cupcakes with milk chocolate buttercream frosting using this recipe.  i thought it was odd that the buttercream ingredients called for ovaltine and cocoa powder instead of just cocoa powder, but the frosting turned out great!  (ryan told me that it reminded him of chocolate pudding.)  on tuesday morning, i proudly walked into work with my tray of cupcakes.  everyone raved about how good they were, and my co-workers were none the wiser that i had completely forgotten about someone's birthday!  (whew!)

try this recipe, you will love it for sure!

enjoy!

love, laurie