Thought you might like to hear of my disastrous experience trying this recipe. First, I live in the Philippines, there is no such thing as natural flavoring extracts (artificial only), nor is there anything that resembles cake enhancers. So scratch any thought of those items. I'm 67 years old and have been baking since childhood. Duncan Hines was the goto guy of my youth. Over the years I've pretty much turned into a pinch of this and a handful of that cook. Even with my failing eyesight, I can see, feel, taste, what a recipe needs. But I changed my spots for this one. I wanted it to work. I'd never heard of making a cake by starting off making a pie. Plus, I haven't found a good basic cake recipe, since losing mine 40 years ago. So I went to work with what I had, ingredient wise. Following directions where possible. I used my hand to cut in the butter (old school), it felt strange incorporating that much margarine to all that flour and I was a little afraid the warmth of my hand would affect the outcome. After adding the liquid, I had a bowl full. Beating the mixture with a spoon (again old school) was quite a task (I made a double batch, in anticipation of a layer cake). Poured the batter into my pans (without waxed paper, realizing I ran out after withdrawing a 6 inch piece). As I started to put the pans into the oven, I realized I hadn't returned my oven rack to the middle after baking some buns. After changing the rack I slipped my pans into the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes. I sat anxiously waiting for the perfect B'day Cake to come out. Five minutes to go, I snuck a peek. Holy #*"=+&#, they're both lopsided, the right side is spilling over the top and the left is near empty. Then I saw I had not put the rack in level, it was off kilter, remember bad eyesight! Quickly I leveled the rack and let them bake another 10 minutes. Well as you can imagine, I don't have a cake to frost, but I do have a new goto basic cake recipe. I'm certain it will rise sufficiently for a beautiful layered (Boxed Cake picture) birthday cake and the taste OMG it's scrumptious, moist and with an absolute perfect crumb. My compliments to the author/chef. My daughter in law has a good friend who owns a bakery. He is always trying to pick her brains for my chiffon cake, brownie, and pie recipes. I'm sure, he'll be trying to snatch this one as well. FINAL NOTE: My only change to the recipe, I never keep baking powder in the house, I make my own. The ingredients of baking powder if kept separated will last forever, whereas I have purchased bad baking powder. I added 2 tablespoons baking soda (remember double recipe).

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