Dawn's Divine Delights: Chocolate Syrup Cake and Mini Cupcakes

I have once again skipped a week.
I have a really good excuse this time.

My son's school had a teacher's conference and he had three days off school.
We decided to pack up and go to the beach, wouldn't you?
I seriously love the beach, I could sit out there all day. Soak up the sun, watch my kids dig in the sand, smell the salt water, I could go on and on.

One bad thing about the beach... eating.
No matter what you bring, it ends up with sand on it. If you try to get the sand off you just end up with more sand.

One morning I was sitting on the beach sipping my coffee... glorious.
I turned my head away from my coffee to make sure my older sons were not going to far.
I grabbed my cup to take a sip only to find my youngest son dumped some sand into it while I wasn't looking. Little stinker.

So, instead of baking lovely treats to share with you all, I sat on the beach sipping sandy coffee.
I know you will forgive me, especially when you see this chocolaty goodness of a cake.

A whole can of Hershey syrup! You would think it would be super rich, but it is surprisingly light and yummy.

I was asked to make this cake for a friend's birthday. His sweet Grandma gave me this recipe. You know it is going to be awesome if it comes from a sweet Grandma.

You could it eat it all day, maybe not on the beach though.

Chocolate Syrup Cake

from a sweet Grandma at my church

1 Stick of butter (softened)

1 cup of sugar
4 eggs
1 cup of flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 can of Hershey syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture.
Add syrup and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake!
It will look like it is not done, so make sure you test it.
The original recipe calls for a 9x13 pan, but I baked it in3 8"pans.

Put a piece of wax/parchment paper under your cooling rack and put cakes on it to cool.
Start the fudgey frosting layer

Fudge frosting layer

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a medium saucepan melt the first three ingredients.

Add the chocolate chips and stir until melted.

Pour warm frosting on WARM cakes, trust me. It will drip over, that's why we have the wax paper under it. Let it sit until cool and hardens.
If you make it in a 9x13 pan, just pour it all on warm and serve, your done.
If you want to make the layer cake, keep reading.

Ganache frosting

3 Tbls Corn Syrup

6 oz heavy cream
12 oz chocolate chips
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-2 cups confectioners sugar (sifted)

Heat the corn syrup and cream over medium heat until almost boiling.
Add chocolate chips, stir until melted. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Put in the refrigerator to until completely cooled.

Place cold ganache in your mixer and beat until fluffy, adding confectioners sugar to taste.

Frost each layer and sides of cake.

Add chocolate chips to sides and place in the fridge to set.

Bring to room temp before slicing.

I unfortunately did not get a picture of the inside, but it was delicious.

I also made some mini cupcakes.