I’m a big fan of cake mixes. Not that I enjoy making them–that does, after all, involve turning on the oven–but if you’ve gotta bake a cake, it might as well be easy. Besides, my kids are quite capable of whipping up a batch of brownies whenever the mood strikes them (or me!).

The cool thing about cake mixes is that one or two little changes can result in a completely different cake, with almost no work. Here’s my favorite way to turn a plain jane chocolate cake into culinary bliss.

Most cake mixes require water, oil, and eggs. Instead of water, use COFFEE.

Um hmm.

When the cake is done baking, poke holes all over with a fork, and spread one can of sweetened condensed milk over the top, and let it melt into the cake.

That’s it. No frosting needed–there is no way to improve on this gooey, chocolaty perfection.

Unless, of course, you want to drizzle some caramel ice cream topping over the top.

Um hmm.