I cook and do so very well with or without a recipe. This is the worst recipe I've every tried. The cake never rose leaving a thickness of only a 1/2 inch. The bottoms, regardless of the flouring process to prevent sticking, stuck and tore further diminishing the already slender thickness. Now about the icing: UGH! 1/3 cup of milk with the other stated ingredients turned out frosting that was rock hard. I had to add more milk and confectioners sugar to create the right consistency. Well, once the frosting process was underway and the top cake layer was gingerly laid in place, the top layer cracked and slide off! I had to cut the cake into a square so that my husband had "something" of a birthday cake to enjoy. Horrible, absolutely horrible recipe! The flavor of the cake itself is far from rich. The 40-45 minutes cooking time is wrong as well. By the 32 minute mark the top began to crack and the inserted toothpick came out clean. All in all, don't waste your time with this recipe. Sad birthday cake this year in California.