Preheat oven to 350-degrees F

On the boxed cake mix, replace water with milk and add an additional egg to what is required. If the recipe calls for vegetable oil, replace it with butter. This results in a much richer, moister cake that is similar to what you can get from a deli. I know because I used to make wedding cakes in my early 20s.

Separate the mixed batter in half and then the second half in half again.

Grease and flour your cake pan.

Add the half portion of the cake batter to the prepared pan.

Take one of the 1/4 portions of batter and add red food dye, mixing and adding until you get a bright red hue.

Take the other 1/4 portion and repeat the process with blue until you have an American Flag deep blue.

Use a scoop and alternative adding red and blue dollops on top of the plain white cake batter already in the pan. Be sure to space it out a bit so the colors don't all run together. Nothing should be touching at this point.

Grab a toothpick and begin swirling the red and blue. Make sure you drag the toothpick along the bottom of the pan so the colors swirl all the way through. Be careful not to overmix. You don't want to wind up with a purple cake.

Bake for the time indicated on the box.

Allow the cake to cool for 20 to 30 minutes or until cool to the touch.

Once the cake is completely cool, ice it with the jarred vanilla icing.

Sprinkle on the red white and blue dessert topping.