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For the Cake:

1 cups sugar

¾ cup flour (plus 2 tbsp)

¼ cup cocoa powder (plus 2 tbsp)

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 egg

½ cup buttermilk

½ cup cooled coffee (I made a cup of Nescafe instant Colombian)

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Frosting:

½ bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (or regular-sized chips, finely chopped)

¾ cup heavy whipping cream

4 tbsp salted butter

For the Decorations:

1 cup white frosting

1 green icing pen

1 red icing pen

INSTRUCTIONS:

You’ll actually want to start with your frosting, since it needs extra time to chill (in fact, you can make the frosting a day ahead of time if you want). First, place your chocolate chips in a large bowl and set aside.

Cook the whipping cream and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until just boiling, stirring frequently. Pour the cream mix over the chocolate and whisk briskly until completely smooth.

Place some plastic wrap over the bowl and put it in the fridge to chill. After 1 hour, stir the mix thoroughly. Replace the cover and put the mix back in the fridge for another hour or until it reaches spreading consistency.

While you’re waiting for the frosting to chill, you can bake your cake! Preheat your oven to 350°. Thoroughly spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray or grease it with butter and flour. This cake likes to stick, so be sure to thoroughly coat every nook and cranny.

 Dump the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk it all up!

Whisk in the egg, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla. Beat the mix briskly for 2 minutes.

Pour the batter into your pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

When fully baked, set the cake pan on a wire rack to cool for 1o minutes. Then flip the cake out of the pan and allow it to cool completely on the rack.

When the cake is cool, spread on a layer of chocolate frosting. Let it set for 5-10 minutes.

Use a toothpick to draw out where you’ll put the decorative icing. This makes it easier to replicate the look of the cake in the movie. If you make a mistake, just use an icing knife or butter knife to smooth it out.

Pipe your decorative icing over the toothpick drawing and allow it to set for another 5-10 minutes.

💌 pressed flowers

💌 tea bags (you can write little things about why you like the tea)

💌 a little playlist

💌 polaroids of you and your friends

💌 stickers

💌 postcards from where you’re from

💌 print off photos of your pets

💌 rings or other small jewellery

💌 little drawings and sketches

💌 a heart shaped note with all the things you love about them

💌 some washi tape (you can wrap it around a popsicle stick)

💌 little origami things

💌 small prints

💌 some sweets from where you’re from

💌 a sticker sheet

💌 pretty note paper

💌 some hot/cold beverage sachets

💌 face masks

💌 beauty samples

💌 sticky notes

💌 cut out magazine photos or articles

💌 collages

💌 poetry (either poetry you wrote or your favourite poetry)

💌 you can go to charity stores and find cute cheap books and cut out pages from them to put in your letters

💌 business cards from shops you like

💌 flyers from places you’ve been

💌 maps (of your city or hand drawn maps)

💌 a pen pal tag, a list of questions you want then to answer (There’s a list of them on my blog)

Victorian Tear Catchers