Chocolate Town Syrup Cupcakes

My family is all about birthdays. Sure, we don't go all out and hold big blowout parties for each one, but we do get together to celebrate them. And that includes the only member of my mom's side of the family who lives up here in the Puget Sound: my grandma. Her birthday was last week and as always, we had dinner this weekend to celebrate it. We decided to go to Vince's Italian Restaurant in Renton. Because we were going to a restaurant, my mom suggested it'd be easier for me to bake cupcakes that we could hand out for dessert instead of having a cake to cut. After some searching through all of my cookbooks and recipe magazines (there's at least 3 dozen of them), I finally decided on the Chocolate Town Syrup Cupcakes from the Hershey's 1934 Cookbook (an updated version published in 1971). The recipe didn't include a frosting so I just purchased a can of Duncan Hines Whipped Chocolate at the store (frosting has always been hit and miss for me so this was for the better). I tried to decorate the cupcakes fancily with a pastry bag but, well, that didn't work out. One more try next time and then I'm sticking to my new frosting motto: you can't go wrong with a can and a spreader.

Chocolate Town Syrup Cupcakes (pg. 27)

• 1/2 cupful butter (or, ya know, a stick of butter)
• 1 cupful granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoonful vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cupfuls flour (all-purpose)
• 3/4 teaspoonful baking soda
• 1 1/2 cupfuls (1-pound can) Hershey's Chocolate Flavor Syrup (honestly I'm not sure Hershey's Syrup comes in cans anymore. Using the regular bottles you can get in the store worked just fine)

1. Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour and baking soda, and add alternately with the chocolate syrup to the creamed mixture.
2. Pour the batter into paper-lined muffin cups, filling each 1/2 full. Bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees) for 20 to 25 minutes. Yield: about 30 cupcakes (I overfilled some of the cups so it ended up being about 24 cupcakes)

According to my mom, I have the magic touch, at least with cupcakes: mine came out moist while hers often come out "like hockey pucks." I just followed the recipe. We even gave one to our waitress at the restaurant and she loved it.