It can create a masterpiece! My new cooking penpal, Amy, was looking for a great chocolate layer cake, chocolate-filled for a friend’s birthday. To complicate things, her friend is lactose intolerant. My all-time favorite chocolate cake is Cook’s Country’s Chocolate Blackout Cake - three thin layers of deep, rich chocolate cake with more than a hint of coffee flavor, filled AND FROSTED with a thick chocolate pudding, then adorned with the crumbles of the remaining layer of cake. Pudding – uh, maybe substitute a lactose free product for regular milk? Amy liked the idea and I sent her the recipe – but she didn't get the message in time. Using another recipe from online, her pudding just would not set, so she bought dark chocolate pudding from the store to use. The cake batter was quite runny so she mixed in additional cake flour to thicken it up (Cook’s Country’s version uses AP). The cake itself came out almost fudgy, NOT the results I’ve had. Frosting with pudding was out of the question, and slicing something “fudgy” horizontally would have been a mess! Not to be daunted, Amy used the store-bought pudding to fill between the layers and then made a chocolate rum ganache (heavy cream, dark chocolate, and dark rum to taste) to spread over the entire cake. As if that wasn’t enough, she then added raspberries & whole walnuts. The cake was a smash and it came out really well, but I know she was stressed to the limits making it. The pudding didn't come out right, she was losing time …anyone would be nervous the rest of the cake wouldn't come out right. A kewl head proved to be her salvation! BTW, the pudding never did set – neither of us is sure if it was the recipe or subbing lactose free milk… More research is called for there. Thanks for a great story of triumph! Please share again, soon - I’d love to know your experience when you make the “original” recipe