This Milk Chocolate Bar Cake Is My Family's Favorite Dessert—And It Starts with a Box of Cake Mix

My mom has been making Milk Chocolate Bar Cake ever since it first graced the pages of Southern Living in the April 2000 issue. From potlucks to birthdays to Christmas Eve dinner, this cake has seen it all. My sister and I made one for my mom's birthday this year, and my dad, who isn't really much of a chocolate fan, requested the same cake for his birthday a few weeks later. Anytime this dessert is on the cake plate, there's always a discussion about who gets the last slice. Never a slice left standing.

Recipe: Milk Chocolate Bar Cake

To make this easy cake you just bake as directed on the box making sure that you make three layers. Baking the cake in three layers instead of two gives each slice an impressive presentation and offers more surface area for icing. If you can't find Swiss Cake Mix, you can always use Devil's Food Cake Mix instead. The recipe calls for chocolate bars with almonds, such as Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars with Almond, but if you prefer you can opt for plain chocolate bars for a nut-free cake.

The icing is a mixture of cream cheese, powdered sugar, granulated sugar, and whipped topping. Make sure your cream cheese is completely softened before mixing the icing for the best result. The recipe calls for eight chocolate bars to mix into the icing and for two more to sprinkle along the top and edges of the cake after it has been frosted. However, you can use more or less depending on how chocolatey you want the icing to be. So not only is the cake easy to pull together but it's also easy to make adjustments based on personal taste or what you may already have on hand in your pantry.

Anytime you make this Milk Chocolate Bar Cake, I guarantee you at least one person will ask for the recipe. And they won't believe you when you tell them that it starts with boxed cake mix.