<p><b>Cakes</b></p><p>Put everything but the shortening in the blender or food processor and
spin until smooth. (Alternately, mix dry ingredients in a bowl and
slowly mix milk in, until you get a runny batter.) Stick batter in
fridge. Put 1T shortening into each of eight cups of a muffin tin. Set
oven to 425F/220C and put muffin tin in. Let shortening melt for 10
minutes. Pour batter into melted shortening. Bake 20 minutes. (Yes,
seriously, only let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes before you use
it.)</p><p><b>Filling</b></p><p>Put the shortening in a microwavable 2c measuring cup. Nuke it for 1
min. Stir in the flour and cocoa powder, until smooth. Slowly stir in
milk up to the 1c mark. (This may be lumpy. Don’t worry about it too
much, yet.) Nuke that for 1m. <i>Now</i> add sugar and stir until
smooth. Nuke that for ~30s and WATCH IT. If it starts to bubble up, it’s
done. Stir it one more time and let it set while the cakes finish
baking.</p><p><b>Assembly</b><br></p><p>Take the cakes out and let them sit 2-3 minutes, before
lifting them out of the tray. They’ll come out easy, because of the
shortening, but DO NOT let them cool, or the shortening will glue them
to the bottom of the pan.<br></p>Slit the cakes deeply on one side
and squeeze the corners of the slit so it opens up. Using a butter knife
(or a piping bag, if you’ve got one) ease the pudding into the cakes.
You’re not taking anything out, so this will leave them propped open
with pudding. (You’re probably also going to have a bunch of pudding
left over, but hey, it’s pudding. I’m sure you know what to do with
that.)