This Butterfinger cake turned out to be one of my husband’s favorite cakes I’ve made for Lhyme, which says a lot. It was one of those super nostalgic desserts that instantly takes you back. We had to grab Butterfinger bars for this one, which I hadn’t had in forever. Somehow, it tasted even better than I remembered. Rich, crunchy, ridiculously easy to make, and so good. But before we get into the recipe — trust me, the recipe below is absolutely worth making — let’s get into NashDaddy.

I managed to catch up with him while he was back home, relaxing after tour. After spending time listening to SPEAK MY TRUTH (VOLUME 1), I immediately knew this wasn’t just an album you casually throw on in the background. I got chills listening to most of this album, the messaging in NashDaddy’s music, and the musicality of it all. “WIN AGAIN” immediately hooked me. The album’s sequencing alone feels incredibly intentional. Starting with tracks like “SAVIOR” and “PROPHET OR PROFIT$,” then moving into “PAIN,” “TERRACE HILLS DRIVE,” “TEARS,” and ending with “LOVE,” it feels like a full emotional journey. It’s as if he’s walking listeners through childhood wounds, fatherhood, struggle, healing, and ultimately compassion. It’s not just a collection of songs. This album tells a story.

NashDaddy, born Michael Chapel, hails from a musically rooted family. His grandfather, Don Chapel, was an incredibly successful songwriter and artist who recorded and was briefly married to Tammy Wynette. His lineage includes gospel and bluegrass figures such as Martha Carson and Jean Chapel—members of the Bluegrass and Gospel Hall of Fame. Jean Chapel also appeared on Elvis Presley’s records. Music surrounded him; his dad taught him to play the drums at age 5, and by age 10 he was an adept drummer, effortlessly imitating rhythms. He spent time in his dad’s recording studio in Madison, Tennessee, and in a home setup his father built. Despite his musical roots, he initially tried to avoid music, witnessing the industry’s struggles—strain, instability, abuse, and emotional fallout—that deeply affected his family. These experiences shaped him, making him wary of following his father’s path.

Now, as a father, he sees everything with more grace. “Grace goes a million miles,” he told me, a core message of this project. He wrote the emotional song “TEARS” in about ten minutes after a tough night with his kids. Though it ended well, he lay awake that night, overwhelmed, learning lessons in patience, emotional regulation, and conscious parenting amid unresolved feelings. Sitting upset, he realized he’d been suppressing emotions and teaching his children to do the same. This led him to trace those feelings back to his childhood and father. The song grew from a single night to themes of generational pain, emotional suppression, healing, and feeling. After the song’s release, fans shared their own stories of addiction, grief, mental health, and survival. While on tour, one fan shared he was 999 days sober. A woman from St. Louis said her brother died by suicide six months earlier and wished he’d heard “TEARS” before passing. These stories changed NashDaddy’s perception of music’s potential impact.

For NashDaddy, this project is about connection, healing, and creating space for people to feel seen, not ego or fame. A turning point was during a supermoon when he looked at the stars and, while praying and meditating, saw a vivid symbol. He sketched it and later, through a conversation with his friend Randy about chakras, understood it related to the throat chakra—communication and expressing truth. This revealed years of emotional suppression. The album, SPEAK MY TRUTH (VOLUME 1), reflects this journey and ends with “Love,” emphasizing grace, empathy, and healing—returning to love after pain or loss.

These days, NashDaddy is touring and working on SPEAK MY TRUTH (VOLUME 2). He has plans for the next five albums but is waiting on “affirmations from God and the universe” first. His music is evolving beyond hip-hop to blend Southern rock, gospel, and rap, creating a full, genre-defying experience with live instruments, guitars, storytelling, and gospel influences. He’s intentional about making family-friendly, emotionally accessible music that promotes mental health, anti-bullying, addiction recovery, fatherhood, and emotional healing. He believes healing begins at home and hopes his music sparks meaningful conversations between parents and their kids.

More than anything, NashDaddy hopes his music offers what he needed for years: hope, grace, and permission to speak truth. He wants people to see that the path back to love involves healing—feeling, grace, compassion, and empathy. That’s his core. Painful experiences can build or break us, sometimes both. His music aims to remind us that better days are possible—that you can emerge from darkness, pain, addiction, heartbreak, and trauma to find a positive place. It’s about recognizing how far you’ve come. He just wants people to feel less alone. “We’re all connected somehow,” he told me. Music helped him survive his struggles, speaking his truth and realizing he wasn’t alone. Now, fans sharing stories of grief, addiction, healing, and survival show that his music does the same for them, which is the best gift.

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When it comes to food, some of NashDaddy’s favorite memories are simple: being outside with his kids, grilling by the pool, music playing, the fire going, and everyone hanging out and eating together. His kids will be 21, 19, and 16 and 15 this year, but he still talks about those moments as some of life’s most meaningful. His family focuses on time together, connection, healing, and intentionality, all of which revolve around food. His oldest daughter Caitlyn, is a restaurant manager and chef, and his oldest son, Bradley, is currently enrolled in Culinary studies and learning to play the guitar. He joked that being featured on Lhyme will probably make his kids jealous. Cooking is a family tradition for NashDaddy: his mom and sister taught him, and he passed these skills to his kids. His style is flame, smoke, char, comfort food—especially brisket, which he smokes all day until perfect. He also loves making pasta, Mexican food, and grilled dishes, with chicken carbonara being a family favorite, even if it’s not authentic. For him, home cooking is personal.

One of his favorite stories was from before a tour. He asked his son what he wanted for dinner and joked they weren’t going to the store because they only had hamburger patties. “So I’m making killer cheeseburgers.” These burgers sounded incredible—Big Mac-inspired with homemade sauce, jalapeños, pickle juice, and seasonings, layered on burgers with fast-food-meets-backyard-cookout energy. Loved this vibe! 

These days, though, he’s also become much more health-conscious. Since June of last year, he’s lost 137 pounds, which is incredible. He talked a lot about focusing on high-protein, nutrient-dense foods while still enjoying cooking and feeding his family. He drinks protein shakes throughout the day. Lots of homemade meals. Lean proteins, vegetables, and cleaner ingredients. But not in an obsessive way. More of a “finding balance” approach. He mentioned making lemon-pepper shrimp penne with Rotel and stir-fried vegetables, and said he always tries to include vegetables and protein-rich ingredients no matter what he’s cooking. Mexican street corn, grilled veggies, scratch-made meals — things that feel comforting while still being intentional. But he’s also not pretending he doesn’t still love a proper cheeseburger. 

At one point, we started laughing as the conversation turned into what felt like food confessions. He admitted he still loves a burger loaded with bacon and Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce, and I completely understood. Yes, I love cooking elevated meals and complex recipes — but sometimes the ultimate comfort food is unapologetically nostalgic. Like a slightly toasted white-bread bologna sandwich with Duke’s mayo, properly sliced American cheese, Golden Flake hot chips stuffed directly into the sandwich, pickled jalapeños on the side, and a Diet Dr. Pepper. I mean… that’s summer. That’s healing. That’s Southern comfort. That whole conversation perfectly captured what I liked so much about talking with NashDaddy in the first place. There’s no pretending. No curated perfection. Just honesty, nostalgia, family, comfort, and connection.

And then we got to dessert, which he fully admitted — laughing — is his weakness. “I’m a dessert whore,” he joked. Warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies, caramel-rich desserts, turtle flavors, and rich chocolate treats—anything warm and indulgent instantly wins him over. His favorite ice cream is Chocolate Denali Extreme Moose Tracks, and he shared a fun memory of his daughter once getting a giant fudge ribbon. It felt like they had won the lottery to get that giant piece of chocolaty goodness in the ice cream. The standout dessert for him was his daughter’s Butterfinger cake: a chocolate cake with whipped topping, crushed Butterfingers, caramel, and a creamy filling—nostalgic, comfort-food energy. This seemed perfect for the feature. While NashDaddy‘s world has elevated culinary moments, there’s beauty in embracing throwback foods that make people feel safe, happy, and connected to memory.

For this feature, I decided to make a decadent Butterfinger poke cake inspired by our great conversation. Chocolate cake, poked while still warm and soaked in sweetened condensed milk and caramel, topped with homemade whipped cream, crushed Butterfingers, and more caramel. Very nostalgic. Very comforting. Very “everyone standing around the kitchen sneaking bites before dinner” energy. I tried to capture NashDaddy’s dark album style in the food photography and had a lot of fun during this food shoot! A lot of cake sampling happened between shots. Be sure to check out the recipe below, stream SPEAK MY TRUTH (VOLUME 1) on all platforms, and catch NashDaddy on tour this summer.

Butterfinger Poke Cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Bake Time: 30–35 min | Pan: 9×13

Ingredients for Chocolate Cake

• 1 ¾ cups flour
• ¾ cup high-quality cocoa powder ( I used Guittard Cocoa Rouge Dutch Process Cocoa Powder)
• 2 cups pure cane sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
• 2 teaspoons Madagascar vanilla extract
• 1 cup hot coffee

Ingredients for Poke Filling

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• Caramel sauce

Ingredients for Whipped Cream & Toppings

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon Madagascar vanilla extract
• 3 Butterfinger candy bars crushed
• Caramel sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt.
3. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
4. Stir in hot coffee. The batter will be thin.
5. Pour into the pan and bake 30–35 minutes, until set.
6. While the cake is still warm, poke holes all over with the handle of a wooden spoon.
7. Slowly pour sweetened condensed milk over the warm cake. Drizzle caramel sauce generously over the top. Let the cake cool completely.
8. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for 60 minutes before adding whipped cream.
9. While the cake is cooling, beat the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer until soft peaks form. Continue beating until medium peaks form in the whipped cream.
10. Spread the whipped cream over the cooled cake.
11. Top with crushed Butterfinger bars and drizzle caramel sauce. Serve and enjoy!