To prepare the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 10” square pan, lining it the bottom with a cut out sheet of parchment paper. In lieu of a 10” pan you could also use two round 7” pans.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the coffee (or hot water) and cocoa powder as well as 2 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and 1-1/3 cups of sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the eggs one at a time, stirring to combine each into the butter. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add half of the flour as well as the baking powder and salt. Stir on low and then add the vanilla and half of the milk. Add the remaining cake flour and then stir in the rest of the milk. Only stir until combined. Spoon out 1/3 of the batter and fold the cocoa powder mixture into it. Begin alternating dollops of the chocolate batter and the vanilla batter into your prepared pan(s) until all of the batter has been used. Smooth the top and bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean about 30 minutes for a 10” pan or 22-ish minutes for the two round pans. Allow to cool completely prior to frosting.

To prepare the frosting:

1. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until combined, about 1-1/2 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, and milk, and stir on low until smooth and combined. Increase the speed briefly to fluff it up.
2. Trim any dome off of the top of your cake(s). If you opted to bake your cake in a single 10” pan, cut the square in half to make two equal-sized rectangles. Spread frosting on one half of the cake and then top it with the remaining rectangle. Smooth frosting over the remaining cake and enjoy!