• Grease, line, and coat with cocoa powder -THREE 6” round cake pans. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In the mixer bowl, beat the granulated sugar and oil together.
• Stir in the eggs and the buttermilk.
• Fold in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Then slowly stir in the hot coffee - just until combined.
• Portion the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. I like to use a large ladle for this process so I know each pan is getting the same amount of batter.
• Bake for 35-42 minutes - or until the center springs back when gently pressed. (or you can use the toothpick method)
• Let cool on a wire rack until the cakes reach room temperature. Then invert to remove them from the pan.
• Slice the domes off the tops to create flat layers.
• Wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap and freeze overnight before assembling and decorating.

To make this mummy cake shown here -

• Starting with frozen cake layers, place the first layer on the serving plate. Top with a layer of frosting.
• Add the second layer, then frosting. Repeat with the third layer.
• Smooth a thin layer of frosting all over the assembled cake. Use a scraper tool to smooth it out into an even crumb coat. You can freeze the cake at this stage again if the cake has thawed too much. But it should be cold enough that the cake is chilling the crumb coat firmly so you can continue to decorate.
• Place a batch of frosting in a large piping bag fitted with a large petal cake tip - I think I used a 124 tip.
• Press 2 candy eyes into the side of the cake - these will be your mummy eyes.
• Pipe strips of frosting all around the cake - working around the eyes. This can be as imperfect as you like - there’s no wrong way to do this. Just keep adding frosting until the crumb coat is covered and you are satisfied with the look.
• Chill until ready to serve.