Start by pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, butter, and oil in mixing bowl. Mix at low speed until incorporated.

Slowly work in the coffee and milk, alternating between the two, adding a little at a time.

Now it's time to add your eggs. Crack them into a separate bowl (to make sure there's no look bit of shell) then drip them into your cake batter, one at a time. Be careful not to over mix!

This is a thick, creamy batter. If yours is too thick you can always add ¼ cup of water to thin it down. Now it's time to bake your cake. Fill your pans halfway up. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until cake springs back when touched.

How to make Creamy Chocolate Frosting: Start with room temperature butter and cream cheese. Nothing will wreck a batch of frosting faster than chunky butter and cream cheese!

Let's start with the ganache: Put your chocolate chips and heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl.

Place in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Remove and stir.

Repeat this process until the chips are melted.

Add the cocoa powder.

Stir, stir, stir until the ganache comes together then place in the refrigerator to cool down while you make the buttercream.

Time to work on that buttercream! Place the cream cheese and butter into your mixer and whip until light and fluffy. (Note: if you use salted butter you can skip the pinch of salt that's recommended later on.) It's critical to get it as light in color and texture as you can. Now it's time to add the Crisco.

I know. You don't want to. You're afraid it will alter the taste. I promise, it won't. It will do the one thing you need it to do, the one thing that sets this apart from a runny cream cheese frosting. . .it will add stability. You'll need this if you plan to pipe your frosting. (If you don't plan to pipe it, feel free to skip this step but you will have to adjust the amount of powdered sugar you add.)

Before you incorporate the shortening, go ahead and add your extract. I used a butter vanilla emulsion but a traditional vanilla extract will be just fine. You can also add your pinch of salt at this time.

Time to add the ganache! Make sure your ganache is cool but not too thick. Slowly work it into your butter, cream cheese, shortening mix.

Now it's time to add your powdered sugar! Be so careful. Turn your mixer speed way down and add it slowly.

Once it's all incorporated take your mixer back up to medium speed. Whip, whip, whip until fluffy. You're going for a light, creamy frosting here. (Note: you might need to adjust the amount of powdered sugar you add to get it to the texture you like. You can always add a bit of milk to thin it down if it's too thick. Likewise, you can add more powdered sugar if it's too thin.)