My first alcoholic drink of choice as a young woman was (this is embarrassing to admit) a Kahlua and cream. It was so delicious, like a spiked coffee drink. I thought it was heaven.

And though my tastes have refined over time, I still love me some Kahlua. And in a rich chocolate cake, who can say no? One of our interns gave me this recipe last year, and I’ve been meaning to share it with you ever since. It’s time! And to make it even better, I made a thick Kahlua glaze for the top.

Yesterday, I lost it. I admit it. We had a sudden ant infestation about a week ago, and our exterminator is unavailable until the 21st of this month. I think we need a new exterminator.

That aside, we did everything you do when ants invade. We sprayed everywhere inside and out, scoured our pantry for open food items, and washed dishes the second they got dirty. The very second.

When I was off doing something else, Kenny threw away the baking soda. And didn’t tell me he’d thrown it away. And he didn’t replace it.

Cue this past weekend. Some people are weekend warriors when it comes to working out. I’m a baking warrior on the weekends, because that’s the only time I have. The work week is taken up with my day job. So I typically stock up on Friday and make sure that the house is ready for the onslaught of flour and melted chocolate.

There I was, mixing away serenely, when I reached up into what even my kids call “the baking cabinet” to get the baking soda. My hand closed on nothing. It took about ten seconds of me staring at the blank space in disbelief to realize what happened.

Mean Mir came right out. I went to my husband and hissed (yes, it was a hiss), “Tell me you didn’t throw away the baking soda without replacing it. Please tell me that’s not what happened.”

That poor man. I could see the realization dawn in his eyes. Wow, she’s really pissed. He apologized. I went off on a rant about how ants don’t even like baking soda. He apologized again. I used some choice language.

Then I calmed down, stuck the bowl of the cookie dough I was mixing up in the fridge until we could rectify the Baking Soda Debacle of 2015, and went to apologize to Kenny. Even though I feel my meltdown was kind of justified.

All’s well now, except that the ants are still sort of among us. My son told me proudly that he shook one off his hand this morning in the bathroom without even crying. I’m so grossed out, but at least the little pests aren’t in the kitchen. Because if they were, this incredible cake would definitely constitute a problem.

Like many great cakes, this starts with a mix. That mix gets quickly tricked out with all sorts of goodies, most importantly Kahlua. And can you taste it in the final product? Absolutely. Especially because the glaze (which is heated, so this cake won’t give you a buzz) also has Kahlua. If that still makes you nervous, sub vanilla in for the Kahlua in the glaze. But if you can, leave it there. It’s so good.

The cake is also loaded to the max with chocolate chips, which make anything better. When your house is taken up with little pests, you need some Kahlua cake in your life to take the edge off, especially so that other people in the house don’t wind up getting hissed at. Remember that next time someone does something you don’t like!

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