@Count:
I think the issue here is that there's really no point of hyping up "WE USED ALL OF THE MYTHICAL INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE" only to have Pudding come in a few seconds later saying "Nah, I stored some leftovers in my island, I'll fix all of this with some chocolate and Chiffon." It's not so much that it's impossible to have leftover ingredients left as much as how there really isn't a point to set that conflict up and then instantly subvert it with such a random convenient coincidence. There's not really much of a reason for the Big Mom Pirates to be left clueless about how the ingredients were rationed to leave some left in the vicinity unless you want to bring up that Pudding is a chef and has more cooking knowledge than them. But even then, she neither helped with collecting the ingredients or cooking them since Streussen did that. And she's spent all of her time in the arc helping the Straw Hats, getting fitted for dresses, hanging out with Big Mom, and shifting memories.
If the scene just focused on everybody knowing there are some leftover ingredients, but no chefs being available to cook a new cake (which is where Pudding comes in), then any complaints in this thread about the subject probably wouldn't exist.
So really, it was a cheap attempt at making Pudding look cool. I don't care that much considering how it's so minor, but it is what it is.
oh yeah,i agree it was just a chepa way to build tension before the resolution (pudding's appearance) and to show how she is a pastry cook and they are not.
but it's also a venial sin all considered..it would have been way more severe if this "lie" survived several chapters,but it lasted just a bunch of pages and nothing that matters stemmed from it.