The first time I made this cake, I used a regular chocolate cake mix and the batter, after adding everything else, was fairly stiff. When baked, the cake had a texture more like a pound cake. The second time I made this cake, I used a boxed chocolate cake with pudding in the mix. I loved both cakes; however, I preferred the second one because it was lighter and much more moist. You have to be careful, though, taking it out of the pan because it's so much more moist. It's worth the extra effort though.