BLACKBERRY BRANDY CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare cake batter as indicated for the mix, except substitute blackberry brandy for all water and/or milk (alternately, if you want less of a "rum" cake style, substitute 50% blackberry brandy and 50% milk). Make sure your cake dish/mold is well greased and floured. Pour cake mix into your dish/mold (I like a standard Bundt ring, but it's immaterial). As you pour the mix, work in layers of chocolate chips/morsels as you go if using them. Note, the chips/morsels will sink as the cake cooks, so take this into account when setting up your layers (it's why we can't just mix them into the batter). Bake as per box directions, allow to cool, ice and serve. Tip #1: I freeze my cake before icing, it makes for a much sturdier surface. Tip #2: Just microwave the icing and pour. This creates a thin icing shell which is perfect for this cake. The icing here is to cut down on evaporation and slow the process for the cake getting stale, not to be a primary component of the finished product. Remember, if doing this you're going to have lots of extra icing drip, so pour the icing over something other than the final serving plate, then cut the cake free and place on the serving plate.