Hello Bakers, it's New Year! Happy 2010 and here wishing you guys a great year filled with fun and happiness ahead :)

As much as I'm enjoying every moment of my holidays, I still have to face the anxiety most 16-years-old are experiencing now: O'levels results will be releasing in another 10 days. Gosh..... There's this huge part of me really afraid that I've screwed my results, especially English. Because.. I wrote a crap essay that was incomplete and I usually depend on my essay to do moderately well for this subject. (By saying moderately well, I already mean a low B!)

But of course I don't intend to live in fear and worries every day till the very second I hold my results slip..! So, here I baked a cake for. ermm.. nobody? HAHAHA. It is cute anyway, right? It is certainly one of the funniest cake I've baked. Not that it is funny, but what I've done stupidly that are funny. Especially when my brother saw the mess I made.............

I was really embarrassed. and trying to control my laughters (which I failed. which WE both failed)..... I started slapping his arms - for being there to witness all my stupidity!! AND for laughing at me!

(Very satisfied with my frosting this time! Heh. You can take a look at my previous Strawberry Creme Chantilly too)

HAHAHAHA. Oh well. SO, who did great Lollipop Garden cake anyway?!! It's actually a simple moist & soft chocolate cake that I have bookmarked since my exams' period last year and finally had to chance to make it. (It's superb even on its own. Recipe as shown below). Also it is frosted with pink Lemon Buttercream. I love buttercream! Marshmallow frosting are probably too sweet while cream cheese frosting are too pricey (the ingredients!). I'd rather make cheesecake out of cream cheese. LOL!

The Cake
from A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen

2 cups granulated sugar
1½ cups cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup hot double-strength brewed coffee
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
2 eggs, at room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sour cream, at room temperature
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

To make the cake: Sift together the sugar, salt and baking soda in a bowl. Pour the hot coffee over the finely chopped chocolate and allow the chocolate to melt completely.

In a separate bowl, whisk together until well blended the eggs and vegetable oil, followed by the sour cream, vanilla and coffee-chocolate mixture. Stir this liquid mixture into the dry ingredients by thirds, stirring well after each addition until completely blended.

Divide the batter evenly between two buttered and floured parchment-lined 9″ cake pans. Drop each cake pan once onto the counter from a height of 3 inches, to remove any large air pockets, which could cause holes or tunnels in the baked cake layers.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, until the cake springs back slightly when gently tapped in the center or a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove immediately to cooling racks and allow to rest for 5 minutes before turning out of the pans. To unmold, run a flat-edged knife or spatula between the cake layers and the sides of the pans. Turn the pans facedown onto the cooling rack, and carefully life them off. Allow cakes to cool completely before peeling off the parchment bottoms and frosting.

For the Buttercream

1/2 cup sugar 
2 large egg whites 
170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until the sugar dissolved, and the mixture looking like shiny marshmallow cream.Remove the bowl from the heat. Transfer to the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter in 3 portions, beating until smooth. Taking about 5-10 minutes. Gradually beat in the lemon juice and stop once combined.

For Assembling

Spread the buttercream over one of the sponge cake gently. Then place another layer of chocolate cake over it. Frost the cake, then put in the fridge until set if you wish (about 1hour). Decorate with confectionaries (but this is optional!), or you can just have them immediately =D